Three Months of Summer - Gone?!? (Which Means it's Over!)

Sayonara, August! 

It was good while it lasted.....yes, children, we DID do something!

Here's how it went down.

Queen of the Kingdom with these lovely ladies.

This song will forever remind me of this weekend!
It cannot be played now without me breaking out into song AND dance - seriously!!

Just playin' in the rain - more like an all out thunderstorm!

Heber Valley Girls' Camp

Haylee and Matt went....Haylee as one of the "girls."  Matt as one of the "Priesthood men."

Cousins "warming up" for the backyard races

ReAL Monarchs soccer game

Farmington City Volunteer Appreciation Night at the pool

Brookelle on the high dive?!?  

(Thanks to "peer influence" she had from a friend she ran into there.)

Desert Star Theatre

"GREASE'D: Happy Days are Here Again"

Splash Pad with friends

Look what I found while shopping at Ross here in our neck of the woods......

a Virginia Tech hat - my missionary son's stompin' grounds now! :) 

Kyle ran the Davis County 5K

(in the time it takes ME to go ONE mile!)  ;)

Brookelle (navy shirt),

Katelyn (grey shirt),

and Haylee (navy shirt) all did the Kids Mud Run on the same day as the 5K.

Flips on the tramp!

Inflatable waterslide party in our backyard with the Fowers cousins!

Off the strict bedtime schedule and fallin' asleep in weird positions.

The results of new school clothes shopping

Finally got to have the full-time missionaries over for dinner!

(as "payback" for all the West Virginia/Virginia families who are feeding my boy every night)

Seven Peaks Water Park ~ jetBlue Day

ReAL Salt Lake soccer game vs. Seattle Sounders FC

School started August 24th

Kyle's first Cross Country Meet for VHS (maroon uni on left)

(an "invitational" meet in American Fork with 40 high schools!)

San Diego with Matt officially finished out August....

 Because truth be told - - I needed a vacation from [the kids and] this Summer vacation. 

{kidding/not kidding}

And, just like that: 1, 2, 3 months of Summer came to an end!

Waaaaaaaa!

and

Yaaaaaaaay!  :)

One Month of Summer - Gone!?!

June is over and done with. 

This fact created a little bit of panic with my children....it means one month of Summer down, only two(ish) to go. 

[In case my kids accuse us of "not doing anything"] Here's what's happened:

Matt's Birthday!

Family Vacation to Aruba!

Big Brothers torturing loving on little sisters!

Band aids....lots of band aids!

 Cousins!

Father's Day!

{Artists: Haylee, Katelyn, & Brookelle}

The Official First-Day-of-Summer celebration!

....complete with ice cream for dinner 

and opening a present (Summer-y wardrobe additions).

Swim lessons for Brookelle!

(she's in the blue swimsuit, furthest away in the photo)


Kyle attended a "Family History" themed Youth Conference with our ward the 25th-27th and had a great experience.

He also got to "sky dive" (iFly) as part of their Super Activity.  ;)

Scout day camps for Matt (in charge of the 11 yr. old scouts) & I (in charge of Bears cub scouts) up Millcreek Canyon in East Salt Lake City.

{view from the hike}

Our family went to this production of "Savior of the World"

Ladies Bear Lake Getaway!

{meanwhile the kids had a blast at home without mom making them to do their chores ;)}

I also found out that applying sunscreen to mostly the front of your legs, and hardly on the back, 

then floating on a raft (laying on my tummy) for two hours on the lake DOES NOT provide adequate protection...and it not a good idea!

Can you say BEET RED?

Can you say extremely painful to sit down - or walk?

Can you say half a bottle of Aloe Vera gel used in 3 days?

(Incidentally, the gel caused my clothes to stick to it, then I had to RIP it off my burnt skin - OUCH!!!)

One Happy Island

My family just spent the last week (Matt) or 5 days (the rest of us) in Aruba! 

{The JOYS of standby flight benefits!} ;)

ARUBA has been on my travel "Bucket List".....and it did not disappoint!

It is [appropriately] nicknamed, "ONE HAPPY ISLAND."

Our Family's FAVES:

1. White, soft, fine, powdery sand (great for sandcastles!)
2.  We stayed/played on Eagle Beach (ranks among the top 10 beaches in the world!) which was so CLEAN (no kelp, no seaweed!)
3.  No peddlers on the beach (can you say, "peace & relaxation?")
4. Crystal clear, warm waters of the Caribbean Sea (with a smooth ocean floor, nothing to hurt your feet on!)
5.  Delicious, safe drinking water (better than where we live!)

Even after Ryan has been out on his mission for 9 months, it's still so weird to look at "my brood" and think to myself, "Who's missing?  This group seems SO small!"  I count them up, and realize all who should be there, ARE there - why does four children seems so much less than five children?!?

And WHILE I was walking along the awesome beach, having an amazing time one day with one of my daughters, she actually [had the gall to] ask me,  
"So, what are we going to do this Summer?"

OH. MY. WORD.
You've got to be kidding, right?!?
Nope.  True Story.
(Needless to say, she heard a thing or two from me!)  ;)