Swimming Lessons

Swimming lessons are over and I'm pleased to announce that we made it through without any near drownings or other small injuries (we have had a couple close calls in the past). Ashlyn made great progress this summer, and has discovered that she enjoys diving and swimming under water. Lauren worked on her breathing technique. Her first lesson I laughed the entire time she practiced her breaststroke, because she would come up for air and sound like a crow cawing. She is doing much better at the front crawl, and can almost get away from her brothers when they want to dunk her.

Parading

The fourth of July parade was a lot of fun. Our location was perfect, with lots of shade. (I'm hoping that we can convince Tricia to save a spot again next year...if she's willing to wake up at 4:30 a.m.) Everyone liked the big balloons and floats, but the free water bottles and shirts elicited the most reaction. They weren't quite as excited with the free garbage sacks that were handed out at the end of the parade. We liked the canons when they were a block away, but directly in front of us-they weren't nearly as enjoyable. The girls all wore their new patriotic flip flops, thanks to the creativity of Candice. It was an ideal morning to spend with family and friends, to honor Veterans of past wars and to be reminded of how great a country we have. God Bless America!

Sew Happy

Lauren with her gecko pillow

Lauren working on her pajama bottoms
In three days of sewing class, Lauren completed a sewing bag, a pillow, and a pair of capri pajama bottoms. She was most pleased with her choice of fabric; that all three projects had the same colors-just different patterns. She loved the class, and was excited about sewing...until I made her unpick and resew her pillow. But, I think she saw the benefit of the extra work, when all the puckers were taken out and the edges of her pillow lined up correctly. She can't wait to start on another project, and luckily for her (and me) I have plenty of unfinished projects here that she can work on.

Campfire in the Canyon

An evening in the mountains was the perfect way to end a busy week's activities. We enjoyed a quick hike up to a grove, where the kids found a tree that had grown sideways. They discovered that it was the perfect teeter totter. I discovered a small clearing filled with these beautiful, white Columbine.



After a delicious dinner, which Grandpa prepared (stuffed pizza pockets for the kids and sweet and sour dutch oven chicken for the adults); we sat around the campfire singing songs and roasting marshmallows for smores. Adam impressed us with his skills on the guitar and Grandma surprised everyone with her dancing moves.


Isn't he cute! I couldn't resist posting this picture of Steve. I was glad that I actually had a picture of him in the canyon, because I wasn't sure if he was going to make it. He was the last to arrive, because he worked late that night. But, we were happy to see him and the kids were quick to pull him up the hill to their favorite tree.

David vs Goliath

For the 24th of July we celebrated with a soccer tournament. It was interesting to see how much height difference there was between some of the boys in this age group. (as you can see from the photos) Nate plays center mid-fielder and he was going up against other center mids who were a foot taller than him. Luckily he doesn't back down, and he attacked with the same ferocity he uses on his brother when they play Playstation's NCAA Football. It was a few days of intense heat on and off the field (100+ degrees), but it was also a lot of fun.

Running a 5K

Nate ran a 5K today, as part of the Fourth of July celebrations. He's caught the running bug, as he has been getting up at 6:15 most mornings this summer to run a few miles, and has a few more races lined up. He was very excited when he returned from his run on Wednesday, waving a pile of papers at us. The High School running coach stopped Nate during his run that morning and talked to him about joining the cross country running team.

Running a family affair: (back row)Uncle Adam, Nate, Aunt Janet, Aunt Tricia, Uncle Steven, Aunt Kristy, (middle row) Parker, McKelle, Hannah, (front row) Kurt, Aubrey, Callie

There was a small competition this morning between Nate and Steven. A few days ago, when Steven learned that Nate was running in the same race, Steven bet Nate $100 that he would cross the finish line first. Steven started to get a little nervous leading up to the race, worrying that he might actually have to make good on his bet...but in the end Nate came in a few minutes after a much relieved Steven.

Duck Creek

We spent the last weekend of June at Duck Creek for a family reunion. It was so much fun to spend time with everyone. Even though we only spent a couple days together, they were quite memorable. Here are a few highlights:

1. Grandpa cutting down a 70' dead pine tree, and watching it crash into the shed.

2. Gunny sac races in Panguitch. We stopped there to wait for Steven who planned to bike from Duck Creek to Bryce Canyon-what would have been a 54 mile bike ride if we hadn't decided to cut it short (he completed 32 miles).

3. Hiking trails in Bryce Canyon. This trail had amazing switchbacks down between the canyon walls. It was a hot and dusty climb, but the views were spectatucular!

This chipmunk was so fat, feeding off of scraps from hikers. My nephew Spencer kept calling, "here chipmunk, come on chipmunk," trying to get the critter to follow him up the trail.