We love the Water

We have had some fun times in the pool this summer. The kids are all more comfortable than last year and Liz and Nathan are learning to swim.

As long as she has a life jacket on Megan is all over the pool on her own. She is our little fish.

Nathan loves jumping into the deep end.

So grown up . . . she almost made herself duck under water, but not quite yet.

Nathan loves putting his goggles on and going under water. HE is becoming much more comfortable in the water.We are so proud of Mike and his progress this summer. He loves his life jacket, but he ventures away from the stairs, and kicks around enjoying playing all over the pool.
Liz loves floating

Mike even swims without a noodle at time.

We spent the other day with a friend. The kids played in their pool and Megan was thrilled to hold their dog, Jovi. The other kids stayed in the pool because they knew Jovi couldn't get to them there.

Nathan's big day

It is hard to express in words how wonderful Nathan's baptism and confirmation were yesterday. He has been looking forward to his eighth birthday and his baptism for the 15 months since Liz was baptized. He was so ready and eager to take this step in his life. We are so proud of him for choosing to follow the Savior's example. I teared up from the moment that the bishopric member started conducting the meeting and it didn't get any better as I gave a talk about the Holy Ghost. I still get teary as i think about it now. Anyway, here are a few pictures of our handsome guy. I still can't believe how grown up he is!

His excitement shows on every inch of his face.

I never get tired of watching Brian used the priesthood he holds to bless the lives of our children. What an amazing blessing!

The whole family was so excited. This isn't the best picture of Megan ever, but it was the best one of the family. Yes, that smile can get cheesier.

Me and my handsome boy! I love him to pieces

He is growing up so very fast!

Salt Lake City in July

My brother and his wife came to town and wanted to go to the Salt Lake Temple. We drove up with them and while they were in the temple we killed time on Temple Square. We saw lots of cool stuff, and it was nice because it wasn't near as busy as at Christmas time. We saw the cool new model they have of the inside of the Salt Lake Temple* and sat in the Tabernacle. We looked inside the Conference Center and enjoyed the Christus statue at the North Visitors' Center. It was a very hot day, and we all enjoyed water and lemonade at dinner when Rich and Kim were done.

the kids with a nice big picture of President Thomas S. Monson

In front of the Salt lake Temple. The guy who took this picture was so nice and so funny.

The kids love to walk the spiral path to the statue. They point out the planets and everything in the "sky"

Dinner with Rich and Kim was so fun!

After we ate we stopped by the Salt Lake City Cemetery to see the marker for John Taylor. We did this with the kids last year, but it was fun to go with Uncle rich too.

*Here is a link to a page with more information and pictures of the model. It was really tool to see. http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/scaled-model-provides-salt-lake-temple-open-house-experience

Nathan

Nathan has been using the funniest expressions lately. I wish I could remember what he said yesterday, but there were a few times when Brian and I looked at each other with puzzled expressions thinking, "Where does he come up with this stuff?"

Today I heard quite a rumpus in the boys' room and when i asked them what they were doing Nathan said, "Burning calories!"

Hiking the Y

The kids have loved spotting the Y on the mountain for as long as they even knew it was there. We decided to give the hike to the top a try. We had no idea how long it would take or how the kids would do, but we were prepared with fun snacks, plenty of water and a hope that this would be a great family adventure! What a fantastic morning. We got headed out early to avoid the heat of the day and it was perfect. The kids did great. We got to one turn in the trail and saw this

When teh kids realized the Y was this close they were even more excited. They kept charging up the hill. It took us about an hour to hike the mile. It was about a 1000 foot climb in elevation.

We had a beautiful view of the valley while sitting on the top of the Y. Megan especially thought this was a pretty cool place to perch. We hiked early enough that the trail was shaded for all but the very last bit. It was a beautiful day.

Enjoying a snack with dad.

Mom and the kids.

Brian took a slight detour on the way down and ran the trail to the bottom of the Y to get some pictures. I think I can photoshop the guy out .

Nathan is excited because he gets to sign off an requirement in his scout book.

School's Out

School is officially out! We enjoyed a short program ("graduation") at kindergarten, then had a few minutes at home before picking up the older kids. The weather cooperated and we were able to have our third annual "Last Day of School" BBQ and water party with friends. The water wasn't quite as refreshing as it has been the last couple of years, but the kids still had a great time playing with their friends.

Time to stop playing on the computer and get stuff ready to throw away at the neighborhood clean up tomorrow.

Two posts in one day?

So I go weeks and weeks without posting, and here is the second one today.

I just had to share this picture of Liz. Every month there is a field trip for the visually impaired students in our district. Sometimes she goes if we feel like the activity will benefit her and give her a cool experience. For example, we have seen her confidence grow as she has been ice skating every year for the last four years. On the other hand, sometimes the activities are things we have done a lot or recently as a family so we keep her in school (like the dinosaur museum or Discovery Gateway, both activities that we happened to do the same month as the field trips).

Anyway, this year Liz ventured into new territory and went fishing. The report from her vision teacher is that she had a ball. She was one of the first to catch a fish and was thrilled by everything, even the bait, which she later reported was gross, but that she took care of anyway. She proudly came home with three trout. I wish I could have seen her, but I do have this picture, and I think it is darling!