Summer '09 so Far...

Along with doing a lot of swimming, we've done some memorable things this summer.  Elli's idea was to camp out in the backyard since Anth had recently made a fire pit.  We set up the tent, cooked hotdogs, picked cherries off the tree to go with dinner, then slept in out sleeping bags after making s'mores.   THe canyon wind picked up about 3am.  It was so loud that Elli and I came in to sleep in the quiet house-where the beds were much more comfy.  The boys lasted the night and we were all grateful for indoor plumbing.  Best of both worlds!

I took the kids to the Hogle zoo where we got to see the bird show for the first time and Anthony Jay and Andrew finally found the iguana that they always hunt for in the open area of the reptile house.  We left just before the rain started, and then we got to visit Anth at his new job.  He actually got to go out to lunch with us.  It was a fun day!

All the family joined us for our second annual 4th of July outdoor breakfast.  The food was delicious.  I think green apple pancakes will become a tradition.  The dutch oven moutain man breakfast was equally good once it finally was cooked! (lessons learned)  The boys enjoyed a fun game of backyard soccer while the women and some of the kids help tie a quilt for a humanitarian project.  

The first month of summer has been great.  We'll continue swimming and relaxing for another month or so.

Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday, late afternooon, we were bored and feeling too stressed with life to decide what to do, when Anth says, "What do you want to do?" I answer, "Run away and stay overnight somewhere without kids. Call your mom to see if she wants to spend the night." Next thing I know we were on our way to Park City. (Thanks Grammy for coming with last minute notice)

We SO needed that time away. It was absolutely perfect. . . just what we needed. Thanks hon-love you.

ERICK's HOME!

May 12th was an exciting day in our neck of the woods. It was so great to see Uncle Erick again. We had a fun week with him and enjoyed his homecoming talk on Sunday. WELCOME HOME!

Is it okay to post bad news???

I'm not sure if blogging is supposed to only record the good things in life, but I think sometimes it helps to talk about the things that stink. So here I go.

I may submit a picture, but it's probably too painful. Anthony got in a pretty bad car accident. He was miraculously not seriously injured. But his truck sure was! Poor guy. It's not a fun phone call to get after school- ". . this is the Orem City Fire Department, we have your husband who's been in a serious accident and we are on the way to the hospital"

My sincerest thanks go out to many who poured out their love to me once again. Mom and dad are always there, my amazing neighbor Marie, the Sarah's (who I work with, and 2 great parents of my students who brought me cookies, dinner, and even substituted my class the next day), and my kind ward. Thanks for being my angels!

Spring Break

Because Anth is in the middle of his phlebotomy program, we weren't able to go anywhere far. But, because he has early morning (3:45am) rounds at a hospital in SLC we decided to get a hotel and stay up there for a couple days. That way Anth could sleep just a little more since he only had to travel 5 minutes instead of 45. We've had a good time:

- The hotel has an indoor swimming pool which has entertained us a lot while daddy was at class or sleeping.
- We visited the Living Planet Aquarium.
- Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory! (yum yum)
- Lots of reading, watching movies, and playing on the computer-thanks to free wireless.
- The plan for our last day is the zoo. Hopefully the weather cooperates.

Words will have to be enough this time as I forgot to bring a camera!

Lost Tooth

Elli lost her first tooth. I could hardly believe she is already at this stage of life. She's 5, but hasn't even started kindergarten yet. Over the past few days all of us have been trying to talk her into letting us yank it out as it has been hanging by a thread (literally). Stubborn Elli wouldn't let us have anything to do with it. She said, ( as she folded her arms across her chest) "It's my body and I'll decide when I want my tooth to come out!"
Luckily, a crispy corn dog did the trick at dinner last night. She looks super cute with a hole in her smile. I'll have to take a pic to post later.

Happy 9th Birthday Andrew!

Andrew had a great birthday.  It all started with a super fun sleep over with best buddy Marcus.  We had Andrew's favorite food for breakfast-crepes.  Aunt Molly took him to Old Navy to pick out a new outfit.  The weather was almost warm, so we went to feed the ducks at the park by BYU.  Then we stopped at the famous JDawgs for tasty hotdogs.  Andrew went to the BYU/Utah basketball game with Marcus in the afternoon.  The day ended with dinner out with mom and dad and then a fun cake and ice cream party with family (thanks Costco for the delicious chocolate cake).