Summer so far- 2012

For the record, my kids have done fun things this summer. 

If they claim otherwise at the end, here is photographic evidence on my behalf.

Immediately after school on the last day, we met up with some of the cousins at the aquarium. Eliza especially loved the penguins. It was so crowded that I didn't get many good pictures.

 We participated in the Race for Reading 5K & Family Fun Run. (By 'participated in' I mean 'were in charge of/ tolerated' the race.) It was really a fun day. There was stress & chaos leading up to it, but it turned out even better than we had hoped. Next year will be even better!

We have been to 2 parades already, with more to come for sure!

 Lydia has taken dozens of self-portrait pics with my camera. Eliza discovered the joy of dress-ups.

Activity Days Day Camp with 31 of our closest friends

 I was called to be in the Primary Presidency & am over Activity Days. Jenna & I participated in a fun day camp with all of the 8-11 yr old girls in our ward.

Tim was called to be the ward finance clerk- his favorite calling! He was glad  relieved to get released from Scouts for this new job!

We have also been to a splash park with some friends, swimming with Court, Jake & Nate, endured a nasty stomach flu, and watched with curiosity & trepidation as the Dump Fire took over the mountain immediately to our South. We have friends that were temporarily evacuated from their homes & we could see the flames from our house, but we were safe and sound. This picture (take from the end of our subdivision) is when the fire was just a few hours old. Three days later, it has burned over 6000 acres & there are huge crews working to get it under control.

There have been piles of popsicles consumed, family parties, blanket forts built on the climbing dome, late nights with friends, bike rides galore, candy from the candy machines (need to photog that!) meetings without end, hot, dry weather and much more. I can't wait to see what happens next!

The Winter Sea, by Susanna Kearsley

I haven't done a book review for a while, so here's a quick one.

If you saw my facebook page a few weeks ago, you saw me complain about the comma abuse. I am so glad I didn't stop reading at page 40. She got the commas under control and I LOVED this book!

It was a clean, fast read. Many of my favorite things are contained in the story- history, love story, genealogy, suspense. The story goes back and forth between present day and 300 years ago. This sounds like it would be choppy, but it was beautifully done! I couldn't put it down after a while!

I frequently read fiction by LDS authors. This was the first time I have seen a mention of the LDS Church's extensive family history resources, much less by an author who clearly is not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (She got the name of the church slightly wrong. I forgive her!)

I frequently feel compelled to search out my ancestors. This would be a dream come true to be able to understand an ancestor's life so fully!

Pick up this book! You will be so glad. I bought it, if you are near enough to borrow my copy. You'll be glad you did!

Remind me...

Now that we have survived the end of the school year, the 5K & fun run and Activity Days Day Camp, summer can being. I'm so behind on my blog as I was trying to keep up the race blog & facebook page & a few dozen other things, so I'm working on that. Did you know I got a new church calling? And Tim did too? Yeah, I'll catch you up...

See these cute little face? Remind me when they're trying to kill each other and destroying the house that I am so glad I'm here to raise them. When this picture was taken, I was only days beyond being nigh unto death. It still pains my heart- in a very real way- to imagine these girls without a mom. Takes my breath away.  Remind me how lucky I am to have kids & to be here to raise them. It is so true!

So, we're going to spend the rest of the week playing and laughing and whatever comes with that. Then I'll worry about documenting a few things for posterity!