A few of the Fourth

I didn't get very many pictures of the Fourth of July this year which is sad since it was THREE days of celebration. We tried to see the balloons and made it on time for once- only to watch them be inflated and then deflated, too much wind. All well, I think the kids still had fun, even though the fire sound wooshing into the balloons scared Luka. And she was not prepared for the Coke balloon to our left and the colorful balloon to our right to collide right over us as the both tipped over. (I wasn't prepared either or I would have taken better pictures :) ) I didn't get any pictures at Grandma's (sad) but we had a blast as always. Then we headed down to BYU, yet again risking the chance that some of Cougardom might rub off on the kids. Brett wore his Aggie shirt just to be safe :). Really we love watching the fireworks every year from the same spot by the fountain across from the bells every year. Repetition works well for my OCD :). My favorite part is still the jets flying over. And thanks everyone for coming to our impromtu BBQ and fireworks on Monday!

Summer Happenings

Just a quick post with a couple things that have happened this summer. Clay completely wore out his old bike. We decided that since he has always had hand me downs and never his own brand new bike that we would buy one for him even thought it wasn't his birthday or Christmas, etc. He even got to pick and this is the one he wanted. He also lost his first tooth which was a long time coming as he had to watch the tooth fairy visit big brother over and over again. Luka shows us that when you are really tired you just crash - no matter where you are. She slept on the rug in front of the back door for a couple hours. Am I a bad Mom for leaving her there? :) You know what they say, "Let sleeping dogs lie?" - well the same applies to small children. And the picture of Tucker is in his new favorite reading spot - the front porch. His book of choice in this picture is the first Harry Potter; which at seven years old he finished in 3 days. Tucker I LOVE that you love reading like Mom!

Silly

We were leaving this morning to go run a couple of errands and as we headed out the door I realized that we had all put on Navy Blue. It looked like we were going to get our picture taken so of course . . . I took a picture. (Really we were just all supporting in our AGGIE BLUE. :D )

Ananda's Photo Shoot With Luka

Ananda ever so kindly agreed to take some pictures of Lukie for me and even though I know how talented she is, I was blown away. To say the least. I had a really hard time picking some to post, there were sooo many great ones. Thanks Ananda! We both loved looking for 'the great valley' with you!

Swimming Fun

We've only had the pool out twice this summer because it just hasn't been warm very much. But today we did and the kids a lot of fun as always (a little TOO much fun)! And the picture of the fruit in the bag? - Well that is about FORTY peaches and a handful of strawberries that won't make it to jam because Luka picked them this morning while she was outside. (She was outside with brothers because I was supposed to show the house, but of course they didn't show up )

Aspen Lakes Pavilion Dedication

Last Saturday we went to the dedication of the new pavilion at Aspen Lakes. A 'pavilion' is an understatement. It was incredible -reminds me of a glass church in a forest in europe. It was very neat to see Grandpa's legacy continuing to affect so many people. Grandma Lu gave a short talk and looked lovely as always. It was hard to keep it together but a few tears got away from me. It was absolutely gorgeous. It rained until the dedication was almost over, then the rain stopped near the end and they opened all of the sliding garage doors on one side during the closing hymn. It was amazing! It was just wonderful to take my boys up and see the stomping grounds of my youth and see blessings being enjoyed by so many because Grandpa lived his life directed by the Lord. I heard so many people that night saying that it was like being closer to Heaven up there. Tuck and Clay even got to ride the zip line! :)

Tom

We adopted Tom (like 'Tom & Jerry) from the animal shelter Memorial Day weekend. It's been a bit of an adjustment but he is a great cat -super mellow. The kids LOVE him. Welcome to the family Tom.

Clay's Preschool Graduation

Clay loves Ms. Sandra! (And Chloe too!)

Zoo Field Trip

On Monday we went with Tuck's Alpine Online Homeschool group to the Hogle Zoo for one last field trip. Brett took the day off and came with which was nice to have the help chasing the kids down. Luka ran from animal to animal, enjoying her walking freedom. She also was the map queen. Which way to the elephants Luka? We all had a lot of fun, although Luka definitly had the most fun. It is a good thing she wore her tutu because she danced and skipped all over the zoo. I've never wished more that my camera had video. We all headed to Ikea for lunch, yum! Then it was back to work. We moved more stuff from the storage unit back to the house for the rest of the day. I feel like we HAVE moved since we moved so much to storage and then now have to move it back. I have to say it, backing out of your contract to buy a house 2 1/2 weeks before you're supposed to move in is just downright rude! Next time no contract will be signed unless we have the earnest money. Selling by owner twice before was such smooth sailing that we just were a little too trusting. All well - "C'est la vie!"

Geodes

A couple of weeks ago, during spring break, we packed up the kids and headed to the geode beds out south of Dugway. We were originally headed to Topaz Mountain, but decided to go to the geode beds for the sake of time. I don't know if it would have been a whole lot longer. So we headed west and drove and drove and drove and drove. The whole time we were wondering if we were even going the right way since we only had vague directions. We really HOPED we were driving on the right dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Turns out I navigated pretty well and we finally arrived at the geode beds. It was incredible. The guy who has the mining claim on the area digs giant holes with a backhoe and picks out tons of huge geodes. He must be incredibly nice because he lets the public scrounge around for what ever they can find. We spent about an hour and a half there and brought home two overflowing buckets. Clay kept yelling, "Quartz, I found more quartz!" - no matter what he found. Tucker read to us out of his rock guide the whole way out, and Luka found a puddle at the site and spent the entire time splashing and getting wet. We had a really good time. Want a geode? Let me know, we still have tons!

Spring

SPRING!

Timid sprouts from winter's bed,
Fill with life and raise their heads-

Spring's ahead.

Chill retreats and warmth glides in,
Breezy bliss and weather's din.

Spring begins.

Daffodil delight and tulip cheer,
Heart is full - joy is near,

Spring is here!

An Update About Things At Our House Right Now

AHHHHHHAHHHAHHAHAHHAHAHah!!
(Moving is a little crazy, eh? YOu'd think I'd be a pro by now; this is our 8th move in 9 years. I think I'd feel better if I actually knew where we were going to live in 3 weeks.)