3 Days of Heaven

Camille came home from Utah

to the best surprise

in her whole life...

Hanna!

Geneva and all the kids

popped into town for a few days,

and we met them for an afternoon

at Fairytale town,

where Camille and Hanna posed

in their favorite spots.

It was a glorious day,
but it would only get better.
Geneva said Hanna
could just live with us
all 3 days!
Glory, Glory, Hallelujiah!!!

They jumped, pet shopped, imagined, crafted,
splashed, had late night movie parties
(American Girls rock!)
and played, played, played.
Not once
did I hear the dreaded
"we're bored!"
In fact,
I hardly even saw them.

As I was tucking Camille into bed
the night they left,
we talked about how heavenly it had been
to have her here.
And then,
(Silly Me!)
I said, "I know you miss her!"
Tears.
Gushing tears.
Twenty minutes of
body heaving tears.
How sad it is to have
such a lovely friend
move away.

We miss you so much, Hanna!

Loving Utah

Just spent a week in Utah while Matt was at EFY. I was SO busy laying around and relaxing that I forgot to take many pictures, but I did get a few of the 4th. We spent the afternoon swimming at this gorgeous pool...

(Seriously now, is that a park or a backyard???)

with our super fun and fabulous cousins of the human and canine variety. (You think the pool looks fun... too bad I didn't get a shot of the basement with its pool table, air hockey table, jukebox, Wii, big screen TV, full size arcade games, etc., etc., etc... A boy's paradise!!)

My favorite part was watching the fantastic diving board acrobatics and adoring these little munchkins...

Aren't they precious!!! (Just don't get in their way... trust me on this one!)

For the evening's entertainment, this great "uncle" got us tickets to see these dreamboats...

in concert at the Stadium of Fire, where I learned that my daughter is definitely NOT a groupie. Took me the whole concert to get her on her feet!

Another highlight of our trip was stopping at the quaintest little house ever to visit my mom and aunt (It's lovely, Skip & Clare), where we cooked pizza in the most fabulous oven ever...

and visited in the parlor for hours. Such a lovely, relaxing time. Other highlights included a tour of city pools, a trip to Lagoon, Seven Peaks, Jumpin' Jacks, a big family BBQ and a Slip 'n Slide fest. (Wait a minute... did I say this was a relaxing trip???)

Thanks Tami, Daryl, Meili, Eliah, Ana, Katie, Dave, Lincoln, Scout, Steve, Debbie, Maggie & Lucy for showing us such a great time! We can't wait to come back...when they get rid of Nevada!

Catching Up?

I know, it's been forever! I'm trying to do better...
Six posts tonight - I'm almost there!

Mr. Green Thumb

Not only was Brad sweet enough to plant me these cuties

for Mother's Day,

he's also been sweet enough to water them

every morning before work so that now

they look like this...

I love them!!

(And him, of course...)
Thanks, honey!

Last Day... Finally!

By the time June 25th finally arrived,

we were all SO ready to be done with school,

but none more so than our graduate...

I can't believe he'd want to leave all this behind...

but he does!

So... good-bye, Mrs Festa,
and hello Jr. High!

Good-bye, Ben
(Glad you're sticking around, Taylor!)

Camille, however,

wasn't ready to say good-bye...

not to her classmates

or her teacher!

Good thing they all get to stay together next year.

YIPPEEEEE!

One More Good-bye...

What is it with these kids-

thinking they can grow up

without even asking permission?

After nine years of having

anywhere from

1 to 3 kids

playing spring ball,

we've reached the end!

And what an end it was-

here's Adam

reaching base to score the go ahead run

in the final inning

of the final game

with two outs

and two strikes against him!

Great job, buddy...

So, I guess there won't be any more of this,

or this

(our kids are excellent bunters...

especially this speedy one),

And no more of this
(oh, darn...)
It's been fun-
thanks for the ride, boys!

Our Little Ballerina

Every year Camille tells me

that this is the LAST year she will do ballet.

And then comes the recital

(her favorite part),

and she changes her mind.

I'm not sure if she really likes being on stage

(one wouldn't guess so by watching her),

or if she just loves the hustle and bustle of

"The Performance"

and spending her down time running around

in the underground dressing rooms.

This year was a little different though.

After the performance

she told me that she really does think

that she's done.

Oh, dear...

(One last??) Perfect pose...

and one with her girls
(many of them have been together for all 6 years!)

I'm going to miss this!

Sunday Fun

I love these kids

(The weeds in the yard... not so much!)

Marine World

We spent a glorious Memorial Day

at our summer destination of choice -

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom...

The boys gave me one photo op

and one ride
(we love this one)

before they snuck away to find their friends
while I was forcefully humiliating Brad...
(Foghorn is his favorite!)


So Brad and I had a lovely time with Camille.

I rode the spinny rides
(because he can't stand them),

and then we all climbed aboard a 53 year old elephant
(poor thing)
and got a free ride
because the cashier hadn't shown up for work yet!

We saw some shows...

and then Brad went with her on the soaking wet rides

(because I can't stand them!)

We finally caught up with the boys and it made me wonder...

Who are we going to pal around with when

Camille reaches the stage

where she's embarassed to be seen with us???

I guess we'll just have each other -

I can't believe we're almost

amusement park empty nesters!

Man, we're old!!!