Summer goodies

I cleaned up my email today (thanks for the inspiration, Brant!) and found some oldie but goodie pictures from our summer adventures.   Random, but fun!

Some pics from Rhiannon's tennis camp...

 

 

And a great one of me and Wade at our ward's Memorial Day breakfast back in May!

 

 

The boys go backpacking

Jason and Wade went on a fun adventure last weekend.  Wade got to get out of school early to go on a backpacking overnighter with his dad and some other friends from Ridgecrest. 

THEY HAD A BLAST!!!!

And here are some great pictures to prove it:

I'm so happy they could get away for some "guy time"--they had so much fun and really enjoyed the group they were with, too.  Wade enjoyed all of it, planning, shopping, hiking, camping, eating, making new friends, and being with his dad!  Jason said he did a great job keeping up, too.

Stay tuned for some daddy-daughter awesomeness soon.  Rhiannon and her dad aren't sure what to do yet--movie, dinner, golf, shooting?  She asked her dad if he wanted to go shopping...but that didn't fly. :)  We'll have to wait and see what they come up with!



Surprises are fun!

As new dog owners, we're learning a lot.  We're learning that it's okay if the bottom half of the back patio door is covered in dog slobber for a while.  We've gotten used to stray dog hairs.  Our floor is littered here and there with misc dog toys, and we know where to look for tennis balls (they're always under the couches).  We're getting used to squeaky toys. We're learning that we've been blessed with a really sweet Labradoodle who loves people, loves to spaz out occasionally and run circles in the backyard or up and down the stairs, and LOVES being around us.  He is my c-o-n-s-t-a-n-t companion, not in my face but just near me at all times.  It's mostly wonderful and only occasionally annoying (like when I need to take a shower!)  And Oscar is super easy to please--just give him food, water, a walk, a little lovin' and some tennis ball fetch action, and he's good!

We're also learning a lot about the grooming experience.  I don't trust myself to do it, so we take him to a place called Ladybugs here in town about every 3 months, and they do a good job.  The first two times we followed the directions from Oscar's "grandma," who said to get a "teddy bear face".  It was okay, but I think our brains saw something like this when he came out:

OK, maybe it wasn't that bad, but we weren't big fans of the end result.  So today we asked simply that Oscar look more like a Labrador than a poodle.  And we got this:





Holy smokes, I love it!  We've got one handsome little boy!  And the best part is that I think Oscar is pretty happy with his haircut, too. 

First Day of School...again!

The kids started back to school yesterday, yes, in the heat of a humid Ridgecrest summer, with the temperature close to 110 degrees.  They got a shorter summer this time around but will get out of school on May 30th, so I'm not complaining (too much!).

We had a delightful first day of school.  Everyone was up and at 'em, excited, and happy, and the grins wouldn't stop after school, either!  Rhiannon was pleased with her 7th grade schedule and said she didn't have any trouble getting around to classes and liked all of her teachers, especially her history teacher Mrs. Campbell.  Wade is ecstatic about being in 3rd grade with Mrs. Howard--the poor kid was seriously tied up in knots wondering if he'd get her or not!

Hurray for great teachers, father's blessings, fun new school clothes, and wonderful kids who each had a PERFECT first day of school!

Scripture reading

Wade has been really good about reading the Book of Mormon lately.  He said he's about a third of the way into Alma and "hopes to finish the Book of Mormon" by the end of August.

I asked him how he felt while he was reading this special book, and he said, "I feel really, really good inside.  This morning when I woke up, a little voice said, 'Wade, read your scriptures!'  So I did!"

I LOVE seeing our kids make good choices.  Way to go, Wade! 

Kind words

It's been a busy weekend for me. 

Friday morning we did our big summer Primary water games activity.  (I didn't do a headcount, but there were a lot of kids running around! :))

Saturday morning I helped host a very large baby shower here at our home.  (I didn't do too much for it, but I did have to get the house ready, decorate, etc.) 

This morning I baked up some cookies for Primary kids who had memorized all the Articles of Faith, prepared a pasta dish for a ward potluck after church, and whipped up my Sharing Time lesson on making good media choices. 

My brain is going a million miles an hour thinking about school starting up again, Primary stuff, friends moving, and the ward talent show coming up in a couple weeks that I volunteered to put together.

To top it all off, I slept HORRIBLY last night and had a really bad dream about a Primary Sunday gone terribly, terribly wrong.  I can laugh about it now, but it was a very vivid dream of awkwardness, irreverence, and absolute craziness!

Imagine my surprise and delight when I opened my email this morning and found a sweet note from my new Primary counselor, noticing all the things I was involved in with the ward and elsewhere and thanking me for it. 

Boy, did it hit the spot.  Most days I'd like to think I "go about doing good" just for the heck of it, but it sure felt amazing to be thanked for it, too.  Thank you, dear friend, for making my day!

Never underestimate the power of kind words!

I think I'm going to have to try this...

You know, I'm the first to admit that inventions like Facebook can be huge time-wasters.  I get on anyways, and sometimes friends post fabulous things like this video.  Check it out!

a)  I'm going to have to try this now.

b)  I think I've got a little crush on Ken, too.

Jason just called..

Jason just called from the top of Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the United States' lower 48 states.  This week he's doing a 50-miler with the Boy Scouts from our ward, hiking several miles a day with heavy packs.

He said everyone was doing okay even with the blisters and bad knees; it was quite a relief to hear his voice!!!  Especially since he was supposedly going to be "off the grid" til Saturday.  We can't wait to get him home and hear ALL about it!

Way to go, guys!  WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT!

If you can't say anything nice...

We've got some great kids.  They're smart, they're nice, they're respectful, and they're super fun to be around. 

But they're also pretty normal human beings, too.

I had a sit-down with both kids this morning and told them that the little cut-downs, sarcastic remarks, and "attitudes" were really starting to wear on me, that I'd NEVER EVER wanted school to start early before, but the past couple days they'd been getting to me because of how they talked to each other and I was ready for the summer to end. 

Their eyes got big.  They are well aware how important summer is to me and how much I enjoy our time together!

Next I took a dry erase marker and started writing on the bathroom mirror:

"If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.  This includes attitude.  If you can't follow that simple rule, then you owe me $1 for every infraction."

In less than 30 minutes, both kids owed me a buck.  But they've been pretty good the rest of the day! 

I know this will be an uphill battle the next few years as both kids go through the "fun" teenage years.  I know hormones play a part, too, but it's a battle I'm willing to fight because no good comes from unkindness and meanness.  It's not funny, and it's not cool.  And, goodness, there's already enough of it in the world!

These special kids are worth the effort--we love them so much!