As I looked over all the masses of photos I took in July, to select some highlights for this blog post, I kept thinking of the words to the hymn,
Improve the Shining Moments. The second verse starts with, "Time flies on wings of lightning...". (The whole second verse seems to be the story of my summer!) That's where this post title comes from.
So, here's a photo summary of most of our July, ... with a few explanations. Maybe it will be clearer why I haven't posted much lately! Here we go....
First, Emma explored her artistic side, with watercolors:
Then, we ended up with a little extra time before the start of a softball tournament, so we took the girls for an afternoon at Riverfront Park in Spokane. They got a chance to ride on the 1909 Looff Carousel there:
... and the Ferris Wheel....
Emma checked out the ducks and geese on the river:
This "sneaky tiger" is one of three in the world... pretty cool.
Emma loved the rides:
And here's something that you don't see every day, either. The idiom of "reaching for," or "grabbing the brass ring" originated on carousels like this one. And you can still reach for it today, too:
(Yes, she got it. She was pretty good at it, too. Better than me by a long shot!)
It was a fun afternoon!
July also brought the end of our summer softball season -- albeit, a bit earlier than we'd thought.
Here's Alyssa, grabbing the pick-off throw and going for the tag:
Darcie got to play out of position, including at 2nd Base, which was less familiar, and at 1st and 3rd Bases, which she did great at:
(Yep, that's dirt on her pants from a slide earlier)
And this mom got a little weepy, because I kept thinking that this would be Alyssa's last competitive softball game. It was hard for me to let that go. Softball has been such a big part of her (and our) life, and this was the end. With that being said, this is Alys throwing her very last pitch:
Sniff, sniff!! And her last at-bat:
I thought the coach was really nice to give her the game ball. Oh, how I have loved to watch these two play together!! (I wonder if she'll take her bat and glove to college with her? She could knock those intramural boys on their ears!! heh, heh)
Moving on.
Part of our stake's Pioneer Day celebration was at the Aquatic Center ...
... where Emma loved playing with some of her best friends:
...and random adorable babies!
And then, six of the wonderful young women in our ward earned their Young Womanhood Recognition Award (Yes, I can count; one of them had to work that evening.) Since they were twelve years old, they've worked to accomplish 48 goals and eight 10-hour value projects to earn their medallions. The biggest "project" is to read the Book of Mormon, which obviously takes much longer than ten hours.
I have really seen this program make a positive difference in my girls' lives, and we are so proud of them for accomplishing this! Plus, kudos to Darcie, who is two years younger than the other girls, and completed her recognition in less time.
LOVE those beautiful faces!!
(and those faces, too!)
Also in July was Grandma's birthday! We still get the family together for birthday parties, but our numbers seem to be shrinking, especially when everyone is so busy and heading in different directions. Still, we love being so close to family!
For part of the birthday treats, we made Grandma one of her most-favorite desserts: Crème Brulee.
And oh, it was SO yummy!
Just ask these people:
