Famous Sarah!

My niece Sarah was on TV on her local news station tonight. Here is the video they uploaded: http://www.cbs13.com/video/?id=57856@kovr.dayport.com

Who knows how long it will stay there, so here is a pic for posterity.

Ice Cream!

At my sister's house, we had homemade ice cream outside, and Katya got into it when she saw nobody was looking. While she was eating it, we were asking her if she could roll her tongue, so that is what she was doing when it looks like she is making kissing noises.

The best summer evening activity

A nice juicy watermelon for Katya.

A nice juicy watermelon for Cali.

Taking the water part of watermelon seriously.

Enjoying another slice of juicy watermelon.

Sending a penguin down his slide.

Showing off a polar bear.

Deciding it's much better to actually get in the water table instead of just splashing in it.

Posing with mom.

Posing with dad.

And cleaning up after all the fun is done.

Why am I so excited for this week?

1. Jethro has a day off. Thank you Pioneer Day.
2. Parents visit.
3. Wedding reception.
4. Temple Open House.
5. Play N' Learn.
6. Air conditioning.
7. Scouts.
   

Baptism

Today I attended the baptism of mam named Yohanns. He is a refugee from East Africa. It has been a while since I have been involved in a baptism an it was really nice to be even a small part of it.

As he came up out of the water, he wiped his eyes and stood there pondering the magnitude of what he had done. It was amazing to see the resolve and awareness in his face. He knew what he was doing and it was obvious that he had a great understanding of the magnitude of his decision. He is probably about 40 years old and he is so eager to learn and do what is right.

He is an example of being childlike, submissive, and meek. It is amazing.

Road trippin' to P-town

Monday we headed down to P-town to visit my sister, Megan, who is attending summer semester.

First, Megan fed us a yummy lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches on
homemade bread and pasta salad.

Then, we headed to the playground to play, slide and blow bubbles.

Next, we headed to the Bean Museum to see all the dead
stuffed animals.

We had so much fun and had to leave too soon. Thanks Megan for letting us come down and spend the day with you.

Feelings about the new trike...

Cali- I love it. Don't even think about taking me off. I will scream.

Katya- I think I'm going to cry. Get me off and keep it away from me.

A couple more inches for each and they'll be tearing up our driveway. Thanks mom and dad.

Wheeler Farm

Last week we took the girls to Wheeler Farm for the first time. 'm not quite sure why it's taken us so long to actually go, but the girls enjoyed it. They had a lot of fun seeing all the animals, especially the ducks. We'll definitely have to go again.

Why am I so excited for this week?

1. Get to go to Provo to see Megan.
2. Temple Open House.
3. Elders quorum Temple Night.
4. 1/2 hour morning garden weeding by myself (I can only get it done if no one bothers me).
5. Play N' Learn.
6. Jethro works every day :( , but I have time to get a lot done.
7. Homemade bread.
8. Air conditioning.
   

4th of July

(For some odd reason, I didn't take many pictures of this wonderful holiday. I think I might be on camera burnout.)

Starting out the morning with some festive hats.

We headed to Matt and Rebekah's for a BBQ, Bounce house and fireworks.
This sweet girl, Megan, loved our girls and really wanted to help Cali.

Sliding with daddy.

The girls loved the bounce house and were really sad when they had to get out.

A Dream Come True

Jethro has been dreaming of getting back into biking for quite awhile. Now that he is not in school he has time to do so. He also has a few friends to go on long rides that make it all the more fun. Here is my very happy husband with his new road bike.

A baby mullet

Cali has curly hair so it's pretty hard to tell how long it actually is. Curiosity got to me so I decided to straighten it and see it's length.

The result:


After seeing this mullet, I am glad her hair is curly and I think I will leave it that way.

A good stop makes a long trip better.

To break up our long drive we stopped in the fabulous Mile High city and were graciously welcomed into the home of the wonderful Hunter's. Our first stop was a little too fast and late at night seeing we got there at 11 and left pretty early. On the way back we made sure we got there early enough to hang out and have fun. We enjoyed a yummy dinner of Costco pizza in the park, chatting, the girls playing in the water, and a game of Ticket to Ride. Thanks Hunter's for welcoming us into your wonderful home and putting up with us. It was wonderful to see you guys again!

(I'm stealing this pic from Nicole's blog. Thank you.)
Cali loves the water so much and doesn't care how wet she gets.

Enjoying the last moments

The girls really enjoyed playing with their grandparents and I'm sure once my parents recover from being completely wore out that they will realize that they enjoyed it too. Some of the girls favorite things were reading with my mom and dad and getting swung through the air by my dad. They loved every moment of it and miss the attention they got while we were there.




Thanks mom and dad for everything, especially mom for getting up with the girls bright and early every morning so we could sleep in. We got spoiled. Thank you.

Seeing old friends

I moved to Texas in '96 and it was hard. It was hot, humid, and my first move ever. To make matters worse, I was starting 7th grade- ugh, middle school. It was such an awkward time and I hated it. One of the best things about moving to Texas was meeting Dierdra. We are as opposite as you can get. Dierdra is short, brown hair and Baptist. I am tall, blonde, and LDS (aka Mormon). For being such opposites, we got along great and we still do. When I moved to Oklahoma in '98. I was devastated. But through the past 11 years, both of us going to college, me getting married and having two kids, moving again, and Dierdra getting married (yeah!), we have remained friends. We always seem to be able to pick up where we left off. I was dissappointed that I was unable to make it to her wedding in early June, but was excited to be able to see her when we went to Oklahoma. She was a trooper to drive the 2 hours to my parents house for a Sunday visit.



It was great seeing you again, Dierdra. Thanks for making the long journey to see an old friend.