Provo, UT

This past weekend I got to make a suprise trip to Utah to see Kelsey and Edrick be sealed in the Provo Temple. Jenny came also, and Kelsey didn't know we were there until Saturday morning. We had a clever ruse planned, where Beenie (who was stuck in Virginia dealing with the recalcitrant movers at our parent's new house) would call Kelsey on her cell while she was headed to the Temple and end the conversation by saying "I really wish I was in the car behind you.". Cue Kelsey looking back to see Jenny and me riding with our Dad. Except, Kelsey's husband drives even faster than our Dad, so we weren't able to catch up with them. So Beenie makes the phone call and Kelsey wonders what she's talking about. Well, we caught up eventually and she was really excited.

Dead Tired

This is a typcial Sammy pose after a long summer day of doing nothing. I know this boy will be happier when school starts again. He goes back to preschool on August 8. Everyone else goes back to school on August 10. Yeah for school!

Waterbaby

Here's an example of Ellie's excellent underwater skills, gleaned from swim lessons this summer. This is quite a leap from May, when her soccer coach had a pool party at his house. Ellie & Sam were super excited until they saw they actual pool, plus the two big dogs (which stayed in the house anyway). They melted into hysterics and wanted not just to get out of the pool, but to leave the party. I told them tough luck, and by the end of the party they were both sitting in the attached, non-heated hot tub having fun, but that was as wet as they would get. Ellie now jumps into the pool, goes underwater willingly, and will try to swim to people. She doesn't quite have the movements down yet, so her swimming doesn't get her anywhere.

How much is that doggy in the bathtub?

This is our darling Serena, having a bath. She pretends not to like it, but afterward she's always wrapped in a towel and cuddled for a good long while, so we know that's she's a faker.

Ellie got her facepainted at the neighbor's cool party. On the actual 4th, we went to see our friends Laura & Mark. They were nutty enough to have four children too, so all the kids have a good time together.

4th of July

This is Maddie and her buddy Victoria in our cul-de-sac on the 4th of July. Actually, this was yesterday, on the 3rd, but it's the day we had our fireworks. Our neighbor had a potluck party, including a karaoke machine. I was too much of a wuss to sing, but another Mom sang "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", much to her children's embarassment. She is my hero. When it got dark, we went outside and shot off hundreds of dollars worth of explosives. It was fun to watch, but really loud.

Girl's Camp

Maddie got back from girl's camp today. Everything in her bag was filthy and she had a great time. Right before she left I found our old digital camera, which had been lost on a previous camping trip. Now the kids have a camera they can take on trips, etc, without us having to worry about them losing or breaking the good camera. Here's a picture she took of their cabin.

Noah's Ark Pool

Today I played hooky from work, and met my boss at the Noah's Ark pool. This is Ellie heading down the slide there. Ellie has really come along in the water this summer. She and Sammy have been taking semi-private lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, since last Tuesday, we've switched to just private lessons for Ellie, becuase she's gotten so far ahead of Sam. He is still very reluctant to get his face wet, while Ellie is actually swimming underwater, and just needs to improve her skills in staying afloat.