• vinegar in water cup (at dinner table)
• Remove all TP from bathroom.  Replace spool with duct tape.
• Tape remote control's to surface in living room
• Cover cell phone with rubber bands
• Cover pillows with cellophane.

Unreal, she's a middle schooler!

Miss Ruby and Kaitlyn...love their mornings together.

Ally's favorite part...the CANDY SHOPPE

Kaitlyn's favorite....the PETTING ZOO

Love this face!

Esther.... She counts the girls as her granddaughters close to home. We love Esther!

Liz, Sara & Lilly...3 sweet young ladies from my Sunday School Class BE A PIONEER: “The Lord isn’t asking us to load up a handcart; He’s asking us to fortify our faith. He isn’t asking us to walk across a continent; He’s asking us to walk across the street to visit our neighbor. He isn’t asking us to give all of our worldly possessions to build a temple; He’s asking us to … attend regularly the temples already built. He isn’t asking us to die a martyr’s death; He’s asking us to live a disciple’s life.” How can you be a pioneer today?

Girls (& Beca) with TUFFY



Love this face!

Dorothy...

with snowball.

She (and snowball) like each other ALOT.

I love Ally's sensitivity shown in the above picture..... it shows her compassionate heart (a few tears & a smile of hope).

MY FAMILY Kevin (Youngest brother), Me, Mom, Dad, Nathan (2nd oldest brother) Jason, we miss you dearly!

A couple nights ago, I had a few moments to my self.  After watering items in the garden and flower beds I had this urge to take Tawny for a walk.  My original intent was to walk to a friends house, plans changed and I took another path to Mac & Dorothy's.   Mac and Dorothy are a sweet older couple on a private drive, across from ours.  We have spent time there before, have met Mac on walks/runs (that's how we met), the girls make stops there, with neighbor friends, to give a friendly hello (and grab a piece of candy).   During my stop at Mac and Dorothy's they mentioned their pasture.  It used to get eaten down by their cattle and now Mac spends much time mowing it.  A thought crossed my mind to ask if Tawny could go there to graze.   I asked, they were thrilled and that led to a fun evening of wholesome summer fun! After dinner, the family headed down the street, to the pasture with a few items; the 4-wheeler, gloves, shovels and other gardening supplies.  Jeremy helped Mac put together the rest of the fencing.  The girls and I weeded the garden and visited with Dorothy, while the boys worked.  Words to a mothers ears, "Mom, its SO FUN weeding their garden, we should do this service for them more often".  My thoughts, the garden was impossible to finish in one night, I'm sure that request can be granted ;-) Some additional fun the girls had.....RIDING TAWNY.  We've had this horse two years, NEVER have they had the desire to ride her.  Pure joy overcame Ally and Kaitlyn as they rode their sweet little pony.  Each sister took turns leading and riding.  Nothing but smiles and giggles came from these precious girls.   Moments like these make me cherish many of the little things I often overlook: Neighbors, (can be) such a special gift Service, brings so much joy Hard work, one of life's greatest rewards Simplicity, we should captivate it more often Life, is good!

BFF's - trotting to the pasture

The pasture (Tawny's paradise)

Our weekend started WEDNESDAY night, RODEO TIME.  It just so happened our good friends (Arica, Jason, Mara, Mylee, Ruby & Julia) showed up too.  It wasn't the best rodeo we've been too, but it's always a relaxing good time.  The funniest part, muttin' bustin'.  One of the little boys held onto the sheep so tight, that eventually his pants were down to his ankles, showing his 'Superman' bottom/undies...it was quite comical!

Kaitlyn and Ruby

Mylee, Ally & Mara

Jason & Arica

Sweetest picture of Miss Julia!

THURSDAY - 4TH OF JULY:

WARD BREAKFAST with Mom & Dad, Dad did a great job helping the Bishopric make/prepare pancakes, eggs, sausage & fruit.  They even provided gluten free pancakes which Dad could enjoy.




BIKE RIDE WITH DAD, to get fireworks.  This is the girls favorite tradition on the 4th of July....this year we even took the baby seat off the back of Dad's bike, so he didn't have to carry the baby dolls in the back ;-)  That was so cute last year, Jeremy didn't find the dolls until after he got to the firework stand...LOL.  Leif, does that bike in the background look familar?



MAKING & BAKING, lots of yummy pasta salad and star-shaped sugar cookies.

RUN, a great afternoon run (biking for Ally) that was a little spoiled by a teenage jerk and his friends, but I'm doing my best to take it as a compliment and constructive criticism.  A friend of mine mentioned to Jeremy how we still get honked at.  Well, I love the fact that I got 6 honks!  Jeremy and Kaitlyn drove by 4 times, honking each time....then Arica and her sweet family drove by, there's 5...then the jerk, who honked yelling "You're PHAT!"  Yeah, really nice you little hoodlum who Jeremy wanted to track down and beat!  I know I'm not skinny anymore, but at least I'm at the average weight for my height and age.  This comment does help bring to light, I'm not a young gal anymore and need to do whatever I can to increase my metabolism by always exercising and watching what I eat.

PARTY-TIME, a friend of Jeremy's has invited us to their company party for the last 4-5 years.  They had delicious food (halibut & roasted pig), face painting, balloon guy, bounce house, hay rides, excavation contests, magician (Adam the Great), DJ, volleyball and a pretty good display of fireworks (as good as the Hall's, but 10-15 minutes, not the 45 we're used to).  Apparently, this a pretty big deal in Jeremy's hometown....many old friends, including my brother Nathan (from Virginia) and his family showed up.  My brother showing up was a complete surprise....SO much fun for all the girls, who danced the night away and had a fabulous time together.

Jeremy on the excavator

My brother on the excavator

Happy Birthday America!

FRIDAY/SATURDAY - SLUMBER PARTY, with my nieces (from Virginia).  My brother comes once every two years for about 1-2 weeks.  Their time is divided with other friends and my sister-in-laws family.  I'm SO happy that the girls want time with us as much as we want time with them.  We enjoyed taking the dogs for walks, jumping on the trampoline, going to parks, playing games, painting nails and watching movies.  I'm so grateful for my time with them and am always sad to see them leave.  I will miss my tight squeezes from the twins never wanting to let me know and watching my oldest neice & Ally spend time together.  It's hard to believe the next time I see them they will be 14 and 11...unreal!




MONDAY madness....ran errands, got a flat tire (Jeremy came to the rescue), got free t-shirts, free drinks from Aunt Dawn, got things-DONE for the week, felt good!  Saw LONE-RANGER...not as good as we hoped, but it was still fun!

That was our FUN-filled weekend!

Jeremy's kite, we flew this the day after our trip to the beach.  Unfortunately, the beach was very warm, with absolutely NO breeze.  The girls (and the dogs) were very exctied to see it fly, I'm glad it didn't get stuck in a tree.

Sun's up....beach time! Two gorgeous nights (in a row) on the trampoline, viewing the stars, & many satelites



Indian Beach, a good childhood memory

Daddy's little princess

CupKait

Surfers & our little beach beauties

Nathan (2nd oldest brother) & I Same picnic area our family used to visit with extended relatives.