Just wanted to share...

At the end of the year I am going to get a book printed with these pages in it.  I am super excited about how these are all turning out.  These are set up to be two page spreads: the first one will be on the left and the second one will be on the right!  I really can't express how pleased I am.  It is like a photo journal  for our year!  LOVE it!!

So I am pretty close to being all caught up, which is a miracle after the last two crazy months! :)

Can't wait to get finished so I can print a book!! :)

second half of july...

It was busy...

16 jul

One of the deer that feel like our yard is their home. D and I actually tossed an apple out to this one and he/she came and chomped on the apple right outside our window. The kids loved it!

17 jul

The girls and I had a mommy daughter date. We went to a salon and got pedicures. It was fun! They loved it. A even asked me later if we could do it every week. UM NO! LOL!

18 jul

We started reading the Sea of Monsters as a family.

19 jul

S blowing bubbles. I love her messy little Cheetos mouth.

20 jul

D "helped" me paint this day. He was a mess, as was our ping pong table.

21 jul

Our messy, little, hot-dog eating fool!

22 jul

D's favorite new toys (for a few days anyway), his Dollar Tree cowboy spurs.

I even googled how to put them on right, so they would be on his little boots correctly. :)

23 jul

I am thinking I must have done something to make her mad at me, but I don't know what it was.

24 jul

J's baseball tournament. It was a gorgeous day!! After the tournament was done for the day we took off and drove to UT for our visit. Mike drove all night. He is amazing! And we arrived safely!

25 jul

After an all night drive to UT, we arrived and had a great visit with the family.

These moments make it all worth while. These boys loved each other instantly!

26 jul

I LOVE the UT summer storms. We had a few light sprinkles while we were there. Which we always love. And we even had a lightning storm.

27 jul

(photo not really mine, but I didn't take any that day)

all my sisters and their families were in UT visiting their in laws, so we stole away a day together and went to Lagoon. We had so much fun and just felt lucky to be able to see each other.

While we were at Lagoon, we found out that Rob and Mely, Mike youngest brother and his wife, had their baby. We had hoped so so much he would join us while we were visiting, so we could love on him. :) YAY!!!!

(photo not really mine, but I liked it a lot)

28 jul

My mother in law was awesome and invited my sisters and their families over to their house on Wednesday for a little bbq and s'mores. So we had an extra unplanned evening together. Thank, Miriam.

Here is E playing referee between T and D. They both REALLY love balls. :)

Earlier this day, J had his annual cardiology appt. No real changes. Thank goodness. He still has tachycardia about once every other month or so. Sometimes it seems like they are getting a little harder for us to break, which is definitely a little scary. He hates it, and is seriously considering the obliteration procedure. We spoke with his doctor about it, and it looks like maybe this winter or spring we'll do it. It all depends on J and what he wants.

29 Jul

My sweet nephew peeking through the fence at the dogs! I love this shot!

30 jul

Happy bday, J!! We had a great day and celebrated with bowling and cupcakes!! Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Clegg for making it such a special day!

31 jul

We snuck in a couple of visits with our darling new nephew!! He is so sweet and snuggly, and we were so lucky to meet him.

And the first half of July photos are here

Just a little bit about our July (and mostly in photos)...

J and A have officially begun their stage one orthodontics treatment.  Due to the jaw problems in my family we stared early. dd-A had more severe issues than J; she even has a retainer to help with her bite which she wears every day.  She might have to wear it a little longer.  I say might because she wears it so religiously, and she keeps track of the hours, etc.  J is not as good about it, but that is not a surprise, hee heee, but he does alright.

a super exciting picture of my water cup that I have regularly by my desk while I am working.

We had family visiting and obviously all the activity tuckered D out.  He fell asleep with his head resting in my hand while we were watching a movie.  hahaha!  He is such a cutie, trying to be a big boy with everyone else.

We have a very big 4th of July party here.  and it gets bigger and bigger every year.  :)  This year left me seriously wondering what next year will bring.  This is a photo of our official start to celebrating the 4th of July:  Our roman candle salute.

the left over pre-4th of July trash outside my front door.

My church notebook.  I had a presidency meeting this day.

It has gotten hot enough here that we officially pulled the fans out. 

Yay for summer!!

D was hiding from me.  I was trying to get a picture of him outside on the deck.  He ran inside to avoid the camera. :)  stinker.  Then I stood there and patiently waited and, yup, he stuck his head out to peek at me.  :)  perfect!! :)

I was super blessed to spend the morning with a sweet, sweet baby!  She wasn't happy the whole time, here she is being consoled by her bink.  The next few pictures she is screaming, we took out her binky. :)

We stumbled upon a small travel carnival and had a spontaneous day out.  The kids had a blast.  I had fun until I rode the teacups two too many times and found out I cannot ride the rides like I used to.  Mike enjoyed himself and actually got himself a little sick riding on the rides with the kids.  He was awesome!  I was so lucky he was there, because I couldn't stomach the twirly, make you dizzy rides!

J just being silly

The Harbor is really beautiful on the sunny days.  This is a shot from our deck.

Sneaking a few shots of my darling S through the fence at the park.  

This is a perfect example of the independence of a nearly three year old.  D brought out these pants to wear.  I told him they were to small, and his darling response was, "No, Mommy, they are perfect."  Then he put them on and smiled at me with all his charm and said, "See, they fit perfect!"  How can I ever resist, so wear them he did!

Summer = Bubbles... and more bubbles!

Hope you enjoyed my quick recap. :)  Thanks for reading!

Our impromptu picnic at the lake

...and it was so much fun!  We called Mike hoping he could skip an hour of work and join us, but alas, he couldn't, he was in meetings all afternoon.  But the sun was shining and we had to get out and enjoy it!

Aren't they cute!!! :D

Even though there were picnic tables everywhere, the kids thought it would be more authentic and picnic- like if we used a blanket.  So we did.  They sat here, oh, about long enough for me to take this picture, then they were off.

The kids really enjoyed just chucking little pebbles into the lake.  And I enjoyed sitting on the blanket, soaking up some good ol' vitamin D and listening to their giggles.

I think this picture was taken right after I realized that D was eating his dessert before eating even two bites of his sandwich.  He though he was pretty tricky and cute.  I agree with the cute part.

As you also can see here, D is going through a chubby phase.  It makes me smile.

AND can you tell his sisters adore him!

just a shot I got of D looking awfully adorable with his long, wild, curly hair (or "fur" as he sometimes refers to it as), and yes, I know I am biased.

All four of them hanging out by the water.

J finally got a rock to skip!  He was thrilled!

Here is our "pet, Sally, the salamander".  

She was our pet for less than a minute before she was returned to her natural habitat.

Mike saw this picture and said sarcastically, "that looks safe"  referring to me being decently far behind the kids as I took this and D being scarily close to the edge.  No worries, babe, I would have ditched the camera and jump in after him if need be. :)  

Can you guess what J was looking for?...FISH!  Like father like son.

Walking on the bridge.  Have I mentioned how much I love these guys!!

I snuck in a little shoot time.  And here is my dashing young man with his o' so cute grin.

and here he is again with his cheesy smile.  Those of you who know him know this little crooked grin well. :)

And his, "I'll do anything for you if you _____ (fill in the blank) smile."  LOVE HIM!!

and them S was 1/2 way willing to pose for me. :)

Her serious look.

A little smile.  And I am reminded of how much I love her little sassy haircut.

And true to her S self, a little crazy face, as well.  She is a nut!!

I plan on getting some nice photos of J and A before school starts,  hopefully I'll be able to take them out without the other two so I can focus and not worry about D falling in a lake and stuff. :)

Don't worry, I have plenty more to share...photos for the whole month of July and then some snippets of our trip to UT and then the time with my sisters here.  It has been a busy month. :)

Love you all!