Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Busy Summer

The last few months have been crazy, this was such a busy summer! I feel I have abandoned my blog a bit, but I have time now to keep it up to date. Just to mention events of July and August here are some pictures....

PAYTON AND GAGE
About a week before I went to Utah I was able to go and spend a whole day in Surprise with Payton and Gage. It was so fun! They are just CUTE kids. I love them. I was so shocked at how old they both are. Payton is so smart and Gage is just a sweet baby. I really enjoyed my time there... and it was good to see Joanne and Dexter as well!


Aaron and Everett
When we were on vacation in California we drove up to Lake Forest (LA area) to see Moon Jung and Barry and the kids. We were about a week early for the grand opening of Barry's Frozen Custard Dessert Shop. We sampled many different types of custard and yummy treats. The store looked great, SO CUTE! Moon Jung did a great job decorating. Aaron was like my little buddy that day... he was so talkative and sweet. He sat with me and Brittany at a table by ourselves for dinner that night and talked the whole time! We loved it. He by far gives the best hugs!

BEACH
Jennifer and Heather visited us while we were at the beach! It was so fun... we never get to visit with them in a setting like that.


My family looks forward to the beach trip on Moonlight beach every year! It's like being in heaven for a week. All we do is go to the beach everyday, all day long. There isn't a better VACATION.


Taylor and Tatum came to the beach this time too! Grandma and Grandpa brought them. What a fun week it was with those two... we boogie boarded and surfed and tanned and played frisbee and volleyball and soccer! You name it we did it! It won't be vacation at the beach if they don't come every time now!

The best part about this summer was that grandma and grandpa came to the beach! It's been so long since I've seen my grandparents at the beach! They started the yearly beach tradition... and this year we all enjoyed it together! All the grandkids stayed with them in a beach house a block from the beach. It was so nice!
It was fun to be with them on vacation... they know how to do the beach right!

Tatum and I were connected at the hip that week! It was the best!

The sunrises and sunsets are so pretty!


Rocky became a surfing fanatic. He woke up early and would run to the beach with his board to catch the good waves. We hardly ever saw him, he was always in the water.... and his new long board was pretty SWEET!

Brittany at one of her finest moments!

THE WAGON!!

Dad worked on the wagon for months before we went on vacation... this years model was new and improved... the latest in wagon technology! We load everything we could possibly need for one day at the beach onto it. My dad put a wench on the truck and that's what lifted the wagon in and out... it was all man-powered on the sand, but the new tires made it easy. Everyone on the beach wished they had our set-up... especially when my dad would cook one of his many meals- biscuits and gravy and tacos won for my favorites this year!

We had SO much fun with them.

FOREST LAKES


Brittany and I went to stay with grandma and grandpa for a few days in Forest Lakes. It was so fun... in August we were wearing sweatshirts!!! It hailed and rained so hard everyday we were there! The lightning and thunder made Brittany scream several times. It looked like it snowed! It was such a relaxing time.

ELLIE, BLAKE & BRADY
Ellie is 2 going on 2o lately! She looks and acts so much older these days. She talks a ton too! I am going to miss her SOO much while I'm at school. One night I was leaving her house and she ran and got her shoes and wanted to go with me... it was pretty cute. She's my buddy!!! I love to take here places, basically I could just keep her!

The boys are getting so old too! Brady is in 2nd grade now and Blake is in kindergarten! They are too cool for me usually!! They are really good at torturing me... but they're fun! I love to take them swimming- they're fish. I had a fun summer with those two!

FAMILY REUNION


I went to a mini family reunion with my mom in Showlow/Lakeside in July. She loved seeing her aunt and uncle and her brothers. I loved being with the kids! Between every reunion everyone changes SO much! But Austin, Daniel and Corwin have always been favorites of mine! They are the cutest boys! Since they were babies I have always loved spending time with them. When I left I hugged them and they said, "We love you!" It was so cute! They are handsome boys and they are SO polite and smart. I wish I lived closer to them!!


EFY
EFY was such a great experience. I did one session at NAU and one at EA. I loved being able to teach principles of the gospel to the kids and to see each one of them grow and learn and strive to do better. In thatcher 2 boys had really long hair and they cut it on the last day of the week before the dance... they were just so open and willing to make changes in their lives to grow closer to their Heavenly Father. It was the highlight of my summer... just as fun as it was to go as a participant!


This is a picture of our whole group for the Thatcher session. I love these kids!
These are my co-counselors in Thatcher...Adrienne and Dave. We had a great time with our group... we had like 24 girls and 14 boys- we had the biggest group!



These were my favorite kids at NAU! My girls Kelly and Amber and my boys Jonathan and Kevin. They were just good kids who really wanted to learn!



This is our group shot at NAU. We won the spirit award and an award for our cheer. The kids got along great together and were instant friends the first day. They all hung out during free time and exchanged phone numbers... it was great.


Chloe



I played with Chloe as much as possible this summer. She stayed the night a lot and we went on lots of adventures together. Chloe loves the pool and refuses to be held while in it. I have to put floaties on her or put her in a tube, she is really good at jumping in- her favorite thing is for me to count 1-2-3 JUMP and then she jumps in laughing. She has so many expressions and always keeps us laughing. She speaks simple sentances now, she is really good at communicating. We love her!


Curlers are her favorite toy... she just lets my mom put them all over her hair.. she could play with them for HOURS!


I always do her hair in pig-tails... it's my favorite!


Her swimsuit is adorable on her!


Chloe LOVES dogs! She plays with Simba or with grandma's little dogs... size doesn't matter to her. She asks to play with Simba constantly, so we always tell her the doggy is sleeping. Now when we pull up to the house she always asks, "Doggy? Nigh Nigh?" It's so cute!