I Love Summer!

Dress Up!

I dread having to change clothes . . . but they can play dress-up every single day, over and over again. Friends and cousins come over and most of them love to play dress up. Good thing we have tons!

Hiking!

We are so lucky to live in an area with beautiful nature and state parks seconds away from our home.

Slip -n- Slide!

Who doesn't love that? Sure beats the homemade one we tried with Hefty bags when we were kids!

Sidewalk Chalk

Our budding artists can create masterpieces over and over again.

Catching Lizards

We have lizards that are commonly found around our home. We affectionately name them "Larry".

BEACH!

Every Thursday is beach day and several wards/friends show up. It's wonderful to always have a group of friends who you know will always be there and there are plenty of kids to play with.

Building Sandcastles, digging holes, searching for sandcrabs . . .
and playing in the sand some more. Of course that's after body surfing and Boogie Boarding for hours.

I love the lazy days of summer. No rush for school in the morning, no strict routine and bedtime, no homework, no assigments due, no deadlines. Fun, activities, bike riding, swimming all day, libraries (for fun!), bake days with friends, running back and forth to and from neighbor's homes making up games and planning creative activities. Staying late at the beach because you can and the weather is too perfect to leave. Warm nights for playing outside until the street lights come on, staying in pajamas all morning if you want to. Going on vacation, catching up with friends far and near. Summer is a wonderful time of year!

Locks of Love

At the beginning of the summer, Madison wanted to donate her hair to Locks of Love (for the 2nd time!). We are so proud of her and it has only taken two years to grow it all out.


Getting ready to make the first cut.






The finished look! Adorable! And super easy for summer! Yeah!

Family Reunion Time

Family reunions are:

Fun!

Exhausting!

Spiritual!

Busy!

We started out John's-side family reunion on Saturday evening at the Temple. We all met there, coming from all points of the U.S., to do family-file sealings. It was a beautiful, spiritual experience. All seven siblings and their spouses, mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, and aunt Dale were present.

Sunday we filled up a great portion of the "home" ward and met together afterwards for dinner and family night.

The grandkids enjoyed grandpa and grandma's FHE lesson. . . even though it is difficult to have so many littles pay attention for very long. This picture cracks me up! It looks like Ashlyn is leading the song: the mommies on the bus go "shh shh shh".

Monday was Olympics in the park! Marylyn did a fabulous job organizing great events and contests which luckily involved water since it proved to be a hot day.

Here are all the grandkids (thus far). The cousins are all friends and have so much fun playing together.

Family Reunion 2007 Photo

Monday night we went to the Hollywood Bowl for a fireworks spectacular show. It was fab!

Tuesday we spent a gorgeous afternoon at the beach playing in the sand and surf. It was another spectacular day. Unfortately, I forgot my camera. Then, when I did remember for the following activities, I had left my memory card in my computer! Luckily there were plenty of cameras around that will be shared.

Wednesday, the 4th, was another spectacular day which we spent at the zoo and ended on a fine note of swimming, barbeque, and fireworks galore!

It has been a fun week and even more fun with some of the family staying at our home. The kids had a blast having their cousins here, and I have a great running partner for the mornings! My sis-in-law, the triathlete, kicks me into high gear every morning. It's awesome! I will miss her as they go gome on Friday.

Dancin' Queen

Friday, June 30


Brooke had a fabulous time at her little dance recital! She was totally in her element and loved every minute. There are very few things cuter than little girls dancing!

Baptism Day

Saturday, June 23, 2007

The owner of the company John works for was baptized!

It was a beautiful, spiritual, emotional experience. I am so happy for their family. His wife, Tina, is overjoyed to have her husband finally share her faith. Hopefully soon the older boys will follow. Now he can baptize his daughter when she turns 8 this fall!

After the service, we went to his home for a barbeque and swim party. Always a big hit with the kids!
Madison and Brooke can't ever get enough of the giant pool slide.

The high-dive is scary when you're at the top looking down. I can't believe our little Brooke (only 5!) jumped off! She loved it . . . but didn't want to do it again.
Ashlyn could float all day!

Brooke, Iayn, and Madison loved swimming all day. They are little fish and spent hours in the water. It was getting dark!

Amazing Weekend!

This past weekend was a whilwind of fabulous activities! I chaperoned and hosted our Stake Youth Conference which started Thursday at 4:00.

We got into family groups: 8 boys/girls 2 male/female chaperones. We played a huge game of Dodge Ball, then went to an Ice Skating rink, then went to a Bowling Alley for Cosmic Bowl until midnight. Then back with our "family" for a devotional and home at 1:30 a.m. for some sleep.

The morning started with fabulous fun, and spiritual workshops, then off to the beach for a picnic lunch and a boat-making contest. The trick was to make a boat that actually floats out of 4 sheets of cardboard and 4 rolls of duct tape. One member of the family had to use an oar and row it to a buoy and back. That was interesting!

After fun in the sun it was back to my house to shower and change for a semi-formal dinner dance. Semi-formal meant formal on top and casual on the bottom: jacket and tie with shorts and flip-flops. What great fun. The kids had a blast, and I only had to go on "make-out" patrol once. We have a really great group of kids. There were literally no incidents! After the dance it was to another house for some more partying until the wee hours of the morning.

Saturday morning was a service project, followed by lunch, a devotional, and a 3 1/2 hour testimony meeting. I didn't attend the Saturday activity because I had another engagement. See the next post!

Youth conference is great fun and it has taken me a few days to recuperate!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Girls love to dress up and it starts very early on! It must be a natural instinct. . . case in point: Ashlyn is 14 months old - and she wants to dress like this! Nobody forced her. Luckily girls don't grow out of it or I wouldn't have any success with my jewelry business! :-)

Girls are drawn to frills, glitter and bows. Boys are drawn to cars, balls, and trains (and anything that can be construed as a weapon).

This is how I found Ashlyn when I went to pick her up from Auntie Lisa's house. I was cracking up and still do everytime I look at this picture!

Girls are so much fun!