summer 2010

So now that school has started and there is a crispness in the air (at night, that is), I need to back track a bit. Since our return home from our vacation (more on that later), we have been preoccupied with restoring our basement back to a livable condition (more on that later, too) and it's taking A LOT longer than expected. "Do-it-yourself" seems to always take longer because everyday life gets in the way!

Before we left for our vacation, our kids attended our city celebration (parade, booths, etc.) with some neighbor friends. Since Webkins are quite a prize at our house, it was not a question that a visit to the Webkins booth was more than necessary. There was to be a drawing for a basket full of Webkins at the end of the day. So all 6 of them entered their names promising each other that if one of them won, the Webkins would be shared. Later that evening when the drawing was to take place and the kids were asking me to run them over (you had to be in attendance), I dismissed it and tried to tell them that the chances were slim - they'll call if you won. Because really. Out of hundreds of names? What are the chances?

The next day my good neighbor called me saying that she took her children down for the drawing (what a good, optomistic mother!) and informed me that Natalie had WON the basket! She had Natalie's ticket (the kids went with her that morning) and they gave her the basket to deliver to Natalie. So very excited! To win all those Webkins! But she kept the promise. She picked the first one and then having chosen numbers out of a bowl, each one picked out a Webkin.

It was like Christmas in August! Too bad the excitement lasted for only a moment. But it was fun to see Natalie's reaction and then share with her friends.

Eli enjoyed cooling off in the bucket.

We loved having the Christensen kids over for popsicles and playing while visiting from Tennessee. These 2 little guys sure would've been buddies if they still lived across the street.

We sure miss you, Christensen family!

Then, off to EFY for the very first time! Maren and her roomie, Rachael spent the week at BYU. They had a fabulous time! It was kind of wierd to drop her off at a college campus... well, THE college campus only to receive texts from time to time. But knowing she was well cared for and having some amazing experiences and meeting new people made it manageable!

Aren't they cute!

That's just a bit of our end of the summer happenings...

AZ

The kids and I made the long journey to Arizona without our dad. He met us there a couple of days later as he was traveling for business. And we actually did ok. Maren was the co-pilot and kept things under control. She was a BIG, huge help! We stopped at Glen Canyon Dam to stretch our legs and take in the beauty of Lake Powell.

We were making such great time (record time for us, that is) until we hit Flagstaff. Flash floods that washed over and out streets caused us to come to a complete stand still on the road for 2 hours! It was crazy. But the kids did so well -

But at last we arrived at Uncle Michael's and Aunt Becky's. They are always so gracious to host our busy crew.

The kids got along so well - playing games,

having staring contests with Lyndi (funny Millie!),

using the doggy-door is way more fun,

and of course, A LOT of swimming! Eli is fearless (scary), Millie got the hang of swimming on her very own (hooray) and Natalie, Davis and Maren just loved being able to get in and out of the pool whenever they wanted (with some supervision, of course).

And this boy was in complete heaven in the sand with his trucks -

We are always so happy to spend time with family and friends that we love dearly and sad to have not been able to see everyone. Despite the unbearable heat (it actually cooled off just for me!), our kids are in love with Arizona and fortunately think it is a swell vacation spot. All they need is a pool... and a sandbox!