The Summer is Flying By

   Here we are almost to August.  In just over three weeks the kids will be back to school.  I just keep thinking that there is so much more I intended to do with the kids this summer.  I better get busy or time will be gone. 
   Well,  with that being said here are a few things we have done this summer.
   In June we celebrated Shaylee’s birthday.  She turned the big 8!  We are so proud of her and the choices she is making.  All our daughters are growing up so fast.  We love them so much.  (Fun little fact, the Happy Birthday sign in the back on the wall is one I made for Jeremy on the first birthday he had after we were married.  We have put it up for almost every birthday we have had in our family since.)
   Shaylee has taken an interest in science and in doing experiments.  One of the gifts she got was a science kit and book.  She has enjoyed it very much.
   On the 4th of July we participated in our town parade at 6:00 in the morning again.  I didn’t get pictures this year, but it was lots of fun.  The older girls and I rode our bikes and Courtney rode in the bike trailer again.  The program was wonderful, as usual.  Unfortunately Jeremy had to work again this year.   He did make it home to enjoy a dinner of ribs and corn on the cob cooked on the grill and a dessert of homemade chocolate ice cream.  That night I took Shaylee and Courtney to see the fireworks.  Kelsi was too tired so Jeremy stayed home with her.  It was fun to watch their excitement while watching the fireworks light up the sky.  What a great country we live in and what a wonderful way to celebrate it.
   On July 7th we got to enjoy Shaylee’s baptism.  What a wonderful day!  We had many family members there and those that weren’t, we know they were there with us in spirit.  It is awesome to watch as my little girls grow up and learn to recognize the spirit teaching and testifying to them of Jesus Christ and helping them know how to live their lives so we can one day return to live with Him and our Heavenly Father as an eternal family.
   What a wonderful blessing the priesthood of God is.  What a wonderful treasure it is that my husband holds that priesthood allowing him to baptize our children and bless our lives in so many other ways. 
 
  I am very grateful for the love and support that both mine and Jeremy’s parents have always shown to our family.  They all do so much for us in so many ways.  What a blessing it is to have the  family we do.  A big thanks to all of our family!  Here are some before and after shots of Shaylee and Jeremy.  I don’t have an after picture of Jeremy but here is one of Shaylee.
  
   What a wonderful day!  Thanks Shaylee for being a wonderful daughter and your choice to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized.  Love You!
   The next weekend we headed to Alpine for the Edington family reunion.  We had lots of fun.  Sadly, once again, Jeremy wasn’t able to be there because of work.  The girls and I tried to make the most of it though.  I didn’t get as many pictures as I probably should have.  I just got a little too busy living and enjoying the time with family.  I did get some of the grandkids decorating a bag to take on the nature walk as well as the nature walk and some other activities of that one day.
   For the nature walk we walked around following Grandma and Grandpa while they told us about various plants and trees in the area.  At the end there was a special treat.  They found a rare candy tree.  It had fun treats hanging all over it for the kids to enjoy.  The creative mom I have, had names for each of the candies.  For example, the Skittles were rainbow ladybugs and Hershey Kisses where unicorn droppings. There were a few other types of candies but I can’t remember their fun names.
      
  One of the favorite attractions of all the kids, young and old, was Grandpa’s Ranger.  When the kids weren’t being given rides on it they where playing in it.  It brought hours of entertainment.  I even got to drive it.  Lots of fun! 
  One of the other fun adventures of the trip was fishing.  The girls didn’t catch any fish but Kelsi caught her first crawdad.  The girls tended to just want to cast the line and real it back in.  Makes it a little hard for the fish to find the worm.  
   One night we even got to watch the movie “Dolphin Tail” under the stars.  Grandpa had a big screen set up outside and a projector attached to a Blu-ray player.  Grandma popped popcorn for everyone to add to the fun.
   Other highlights of the trip were: the beautiful weather, the many crafts with grandma, hours of playtime with cousins, baseball in the meadow, roasting marshmallows, picking wildflowers, going on a bear hunt and finding gummy bears, and being dirty from head to toe within 10 minutes of getting there. Gotta love the mountains!   
        

Happy Summer to you all!