Last Day of Summer.......

We've had a great summer this year. It's been pretty low key. We spent lots of time at the pool, riding bikes, and just hangin' out. Here are a few of our favorite pics of the summer:


National Aquarium


Frying Pan Farm


Chillin' in the backyard


Helping Dad mow the lawn


"Sister Sleepovers"


Sportin' Shades


Havin' fun at the pool

When you try to work from home......

This is what happens....

Joe worked from home this morning . (Well at least he tried:)
The kids were so excited about the novelty of actually getting to see him on a week day they just couldn't leave him alone despite my best efforts to give him some quiet time to work. At one time we had both the little kids screaming at the top of their lungs while running around the table Joe was using as his "work space," and the big girls arguing in the next room, and me trying to talk/yell above all of that to try and get everyone's attention so that I could tell them to take their roudiness/issues out side or to the basement to give daddy some quiet time.
Finally after 2 hours of wasted effort to keep the house quiet, I gave up, threw all the kids in the car and went to Target.

Whew.....

Whirlwind Weekend........part II

I had the chance to take another quick trip to Utah for more family weddings.
My oldest nephew Tanner was married in the Salt Lake Temple Sat. morning.
Again, it was so wonderful being in the temple with my family. The sealing was beautiful and then we had lunch at The Lion House! (Gotta love those rolls!!!!)
Then Sat. evening I got to attend Jessie Padilla's Reception! What a party!
Thanks again to my sweet husband who gave up his weekend to watch the kids do I could go!
Sweetie...you are my hero!!!

Let's say nice words.......

Emily has always been a little comedian. Sometimes not even on purpose. She is such a little 'ham' and she loves making her sisters laugh. However, Emily has discovered that by using words like poop as a punch line are particularly funny to Becky and JJ (and particularly embarrassing for me when she chooses to say it in the middle of the sacrament at church.)
So my plan for changing her behavior was to try and explain that words like poop are not nice words and that saying nice words like rainbow, flowers, sunshine, tickle, and love is much better.

Well I guess she took my advice to heart because the other day she came up to me and said, "Mommy I rainbowed in my diaper."



Not exactly what I had in mind..........but okay:)


That girl.......

whirlwind weekend

Last weekend I took a quick trip out to Utah to be there for my niece's wedding. The keyword there being 'quick'. My niece Michelle is the first granchild on my side to be married. And even though she is only 7 years younger than me it was still wierd to see my nice get married. I feel soooo old. All wierdness aside though....It was a really neat day.
Although I am very limited in my cake decorating experience Michelle was brave enough to ask me to make her wedding cake. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
So I flew in Thursday evening, made a few quick stops at some florist and craft stores for supplies and then got to work on her cake.
The sealing was early Friday morning in the Timpanogos Temple.
What a wonderful experience!!! I always love being in the temple but there is something extra special about being in the temple with your family. My parents, all my siblings, plus a few aunts and uncles and close friends were there. The ceremony was beautiful.
Then we had a delicious lunch and mini reception at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake. That evening the bride and groom and their families drove up to Idaho to get ready to host the official reception in Fruitland the next day. Unfortunatley I couldn't go up for it because I had to catch a flight home the next day, but I was glad to be there for the most important stuff.



Me and my super-handsome brother Dave outside the temple

The Bride and Groom

The Luncheon


The Cake


The next day my niece Samantha flew home with me so she could spend a week with us here in Virginia.
We've had a great time so far.
The girls love having Sami here.
Yay for cousins !

Fourth of July!

We had a great 4th of July!!!
Joe's parents and brother and sister were in town, and Joe's cousin and her family from North Carolina were here aswell!
We had a yummy bar-bq and then "The Drive way of FIRE!"

Girls Camp

This week is girls camp for our ward. Melanie and I went up to spend the evening with our awesome young women! The all were so cute and seemed to be having a great time.
Yay! for girls camp!