The rest of August

was pretty low key....

a banana berry protein smoothie: a loved favorite treat in our house.

Mike and I timed each other and raced to see who could get the fastest time.  (I won)  Finally something I beat him at.  Nah, we're not competitive at all (are we Heath).

A few dollar item from Target.  One for cleaning supplies upstairs, one for cleaning supplies downstairs, and one for just fun go to items in my craft area. :)

The kids at the lake.  I have a handful of fun ones, but this is my favorite!

D and his side kick, Frank.  They love each other!

This is the infamous dollhouse book shelf I have been working on for YEARS (about 7)  granted for about 4 of them it was in storage in another state. :)  It now has it's scalloped edges, the cupboards are assembled, edges and holes are filled, and the first level of sanding is done.  It is time to attach the cupboards and the big drawer on the bottom with all the metal fixings, and then take them out to sand and paint.  I think i am scared of the metal parts, I don't want to drill holes and mess it up. :) Then a serious sand, the paint, then reassemble.  No problem, right. :)

I was doing a quick photo shoot this afternoon and Luis came to watch the kids while I shot.  I snagged this picture of them walking off to the park.  It might just be one of my all time favorites.  I wish J was in the photo and not hiding behind a tree playing spy.

the moon

my bright colored pots.  they sit on my deck, just waiting to have something pretty in them.  But honestly, for me it was just the bright color that made me want them.  Looking at them just makes me happy.

started P90X again.

Soccer season had officially begun.  I coach A's team.  This year we start coaching more skills and a bit more about the meat of the game.  It stresses me out a bit, not the coaching part, or the girls, but more the parents.  I want to do good by the parents to be sure they are happy that their girls get the time they hope for and develop their skills.

D and A, just chilling together.  She is REALLY awesome with him, and it shows in how much he loves her.  They have a pretty special relationship.

Anyone remember when J was into ropes and tying things up???  Me thinks D had begun that phase.  I have to hide all the yarn and string and have even thrown away a few ropes.  hahaha!

Thanks to Nate and Cort, Mike and I are officially addicted to Ticket to Ride.  And since being back, we have passed on the love of the game to a few of our friends.  Good stuff!!

The soccer equipment is taking over the entry way!!

J was particularly good about reading this summer.  I am very happy about that.  What was such a HUGE struggle for us has really become a positive.  He reads:I am happy; he earns video game time:he is happy.  It works!

Not feeling chatty, but...

here are some photos for the first part of August... I'll confess, while on vacation and while having people visit, I was really bad at taking pictures.  so some are pretty lame, other are after the fact photos, and some are just plain someone else's that I snagged. (Thanks Heather and Misty.)

all packed up and ready to return home from UT.  

Long drive, but the kids were great.

Got home in time to play a few days with my family before my oldest sister had to return home.

Here we are being just a little silly with my Dad!

And here are just the girls!  

There are few things better in the world than sisters! (yes, there are a few)

Then Heather and her family came for 5 days.  and I was really bad taking pictures while she was here.  I think we were both a little pooped and we just vegged.  The kids set up the tent and pretended to camp for a few days. :)  We did a craft day, and worked on MANY Faith in God projects! :)  Good Times!

our landscaped rocks turned into fire pit for the camping adventures. (yes, they are still like this)

Dinner out at the park which turned into an Faith in God activity as we cleaned up the trash in the park.  It was great fun, and the kids were happy to clean it up.

The remnants of the camp out.  (and again, yes, they are still out there)

A sampling of all the crafty things we made while they were visiting.

On Sunday Josh and Jill and Chris and Vanessa joined us for yummy dinner and apple betty.  Heather and her family stayed through the dessert part, because who can leave once they smell apple betty cooking. :)  We were sad to have Heather and her fam leave, but thrilled to have Josh and Jill here. 

Just hanging out and playing. 

Tuesday we had a little accident while on a walk which left my sweet A with 2 bloody elbows, a bloody knee, a scraped nose, swollen and cut up lip, chipped permanent front tooth, and lots of tears, and little D saying repeatedly, "I don't like rock blood".  So we stayed in the rest of the day, watched KungFu Panda, and Jill taught the girls to use chopsticks. :)

Tuesday night Chris and Vanessa left (at least I think it was Tuesday).

Here is S on day two of chopsticks lesson.  They did quite well.

Wednesday afternoon Josh and Jill left Wednesday afternoon.  We had an evening alone....

One evening, and then I took off on Thursday to go meet Misty and Heather and their kids at the zoo.  And I stayed with Misty and Heather until Saturday.

Misty had this cute idea and orchestrated it.  Here are all the kids going down the slide.

Here are all the kids the next day at a park.  It was a little dark, so the picture is a little blurry, but seriously, 11 kids, at dusk, ISO 400 (because I don't like it much more than that), means slow shutter speed, and unless the subjects are still (yeah right) it'll be a little blurry.  In the end, I think this one turned out cute! My A kept asking me why she has a funny smile in all the pictures, and it is because her lip is swollen from the above mentioned fall.

HOME...the sunsets are coming back to be able to see them off our deck.

I'll end on the picture of Luis for tonight.  He came over to work on his mission papers.  He asked me to take some mission pictures for him.  So here is his mission picture!  YAY!

All in all we had three straight weeks of family and vacation.  It was crazy, but so so worth it!!  Love you all!

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.