Pool Days

So when we weren't out of town escaping the grueling Phoenix summers, how did we spend our days? Most of them were spent in the pool! So here is a post dedicated to summer days by the pool! A little late, I know. But I'll be playing catch up for my "blogbook", for the next couple of posts!

Sophia has LOVED the pool since she was a baby! This year was a big step for her when she learned how to swim. I finally was able to breath a little easier, and those

drowning nightmares have finally ended! Her teacher said she's the best 2 year old student she's ever had, besides her own daughter. I don't think that's really fair for her to say since Sophia is half fish!

Sophia doing her beaver impression (ok...not really), and enjoying her second favorite thing; a good PB&J! (Sarah Lee bread, Jif, & Smucker's Strawberry!)

Mom LOVES outside lunch. No messy floors, or kitchen table!

The neighbors always had a six sense when we were swimming, and ended up joining us, along with planned play dates!

( ethan, brigham, boston, marek & sophia)

My Mom was always a hit during pool time, always playing tag, etc! She'll always be a kid at heart, thank goodness!

My Mom.....one of Sophia's favorite people!!

Ready. Set.

GO!!!

Back on the Wagon...I hope!

*** Lots of journaling info! Finally found a company that will make books out of blogs! Yeah! So, hopefully, I can get back on the Blog wagon!

Early Wake Up Call: This morning I woke, in a panic, to the sound of the boys downstairs. I thought for sure I had slept in! I jumped out of bed and as I'm rushing downstairs to see what's going on, I notice the clock in the hall says 6:30! They were already dressed, and had their beds made, and Boston was in the throws of getting bowls and spoons out for every one's breakfast. So with all that done, they had to be up at 6:15! Ethan!!!??? Boston I can see that, but Ethan is my "sleeper"! Apparently they wanted to get everything done, so they could play video games. I crawled back into bed hoping for another half hour of sleep, but that didn't happen. Rest, maybe, but NO sleep! I could hear the clanking of bowls and spoons and talking amongst the boys. Should I ban video games before school? Or is it good that they are willing to get up on their own, and be goal oriented? Ha! They were thoughtful enough to pour Aubrie a bowl of cereal, which sat there and was too soggy for her to eat, 30 minutes later. They also got all the lunch boxes and backpacks out! I gladly welcome that, but not so early!!! I have a hard enough time getting up for 7 o'clock scripture study! (I know! Your saying, "Seven isn't early). I'm still in summer routine!!!!

Scripture Study: Scripture study is going well. So far we have been consistent. At first we did it while the kids ate breakfast, but I was too stressed when the kids weren't getting ready and to the breakfast table in time. So I decided we would do it first thing. We wake them up and it's straight to the play room for reading! Once we started doing it first thing, the mornings went much smoother! It's kinda hard to yell at the kids after you just got done reading the scriptures! Boston and Aubrie are actually enjoying the time, and look forward to when it's their turn to read. Ethan is a little antsy, and Sophia is only up that time a few days out of the week!

Potty Advances: So this morning Sophia came down and had dressed herself, as she normally prefers, except today she came down in her Dora Underwear. I told her if she wanted to keep them on she couldn't get them wet. She has done this a few times over the past few months, but today she had them on all morning and up to nap time, and didn't have one accident. I was even brave enough to make a short trip to Target, and she went potty when we first go there. I'm not holding my breath here, because I think she is still a little young, but it goes to show that when she has her mind made up about something, she will do it. Every time she used the potty she got so excited and jumped up and down....and then asked for candy! I'm glad she is excited about it, but I'll be the first to admit that if she showed no interest for another few months, I wouldn't be disappointed! It's no fun constantly keeping track of her and asking her if she needs to go potty, and wondering when things are really quite, if she is somewhere making a mess! The reward for it all is the excitement on her face when she succeeds!

My Shopping Girl: Today while at Target, Sophia once again showed how independent she was. First, she didn't want to ride in the cart. Instead she held on to the front of the cart. When she saw something she liked she would get it and throw it in the cart. She had to put a lot of stuff back, until she caught on and stopped throwing everything she liked in there! When we got to the kids clothing department, she started picking up shirts and saying, "Ooooo, pretty!" She then would hand it to me. I would pick up some things and ask if she liked it and she would say , "No!" She is a girl who knows what she likes! Right now she has the biggest thing for Dora. I hate when there

are Dora things out for display in Walmart, because it's huge drama as I walk past it and don't let her get it. Luckily the drama only lasts while it's in sight. So I'm often booking it through the store! Today she found a Dora Nightgown at Target. Ben has been looking for one, because he knows how much it would mean to her. It was perfect, and now she is wearing it while she naps! Here is a picture of her wearing it. She was so excited to put it on!

All about Sophia : I just love the time I have with Sophia! Her favorite things to do are; watch Dora, read books, do puzzles, play with her baby dolls, and paint her toes and nails. She likes pretty things. She currently wears 3 bracelets, and never takes them off. She also has an anklet that she has had on since North Carolina. She likes to sing in the car,and mimic things you say. She loves counting things and LOVES PB&J's, and it's the cutest thing when she says, "Sandwich"! She loves the bus! She loves going with the kids in the morning, and waiting for them in the afternoon. She jumps up and down as it comes down the street, and runs into

Aubrie's arms as she comes off. She will be sad when the bus stops coming.

Ethan and Sophia hanging out at the Park Grand Opening!

A snap shot of Sophia doing the Soccer kick. Objective....get all three kicks in the net. She came out a winner, with a new T-shirt!

Finally! : The new park by our house opened up last week. The kids walked the new trail to school last week, and today they rode their bikes for the first time. They were so excited!!!! I followed behind in the car to make sure Ethan made it all right. At first they didn't see me. Boston was racing ahead, while Aubrie tried helping a tired Ethan. She finally took his back pack for him, so Ethan could be better balanced. It was so good to see her watching out for him. I finally pulled up next to him and told him he could do it! I kept encouraging him until he made it all the way to the park trail. I hope he does alright on the way home, since he will probably be more tired! I told them they needed to ride the bus until they cut the service off next month. They protested, but I explained that this will be the last time they will ever get to ride a bust to school (unless we move) . They tried to give me "lip", but they will have plenty of time to ride their bikes to school. Like the rest of their elementary life!

One step closer to an ending season!

So the picture are not in chronological order. It's not easy to drag pictures around with MAC!

Ethan and Grant enjoying lunch time!

First thing he ate was his Sandwich! Good Boy!!!!

Waiting in line after I left! What kind of look is that?

Last Goodbyes!

The one with the Teacher!

Do I really have three kids in school?

So Monday took me another step closer to the end of a season in my life. I'm not talking about Fall here. I'm talking Spring actually! Spring is sometimes defined as the first stage of Motherhood; young Motherhood! It seems like yesterday when Aubrie and Boston were toddlers and school seemed so far off in the distance. Back then I thought that life would be so much easier, when they grew up and went to school. No diapers to change, no fights to break up all day long, no more toting kids all over the place to do errands, and no more multiple carseats crowding my car. How quickly those toddlers grew and here I am with 3 kids in school and only one 2 year old to keep me company through the day. I am making such a concentrated effort to enjoy Sophia more. Play with her more, and try to see things through her eyes. A few weeks before school started I realized that my alone time with Ethan was gone when school ended in May. Before, when Sophia took her naps, it was just me and Ethan with no other kids to get him wound up, or fight for my attention. I so loved my time with Ethan here at home. And how I wish I would have taken advantage of it more, instead of wasting my time with cleaning, computer work, crafts, etc. He just loved doing his own thing, and so it was easy to let him. Now he is off to school. I miss him so much. Even if it's just his presence! He has such a sweet, loving spirit. Though his attention span is lacking, his heart is made of gold. He is like a sponge, absorbing everything around him, but at the same time everything bounces back as quickly as it's learned, processesing and then tries those things out himself! Oh how I miss my Ethan, but seeing how excited he has been about school has helped me be a little more excited about him being at school.

I wasn't sure he was going to like school. Months leading up to the first day I would ask him if he was excited to be going to Kindergarten. He wouldn't act very excited about it, and would give me the nonchalant answer of, "sure, Mom." Perhaps I was asking him during the middle of a video game or something. LOL The night before the first day of school he seemed a little more excited, but not enough to make me feel like this was a day he was looking forward to. Then when we woke him up, he was up and ready (chores done, etc) so fast. I thought, "well maybe he is excited." When we got there, he again was acting really laid back, like it was just another day. When we got to the Kindergarten playground he instantly saw a friend and started playing. When it was time for them to go to class, he was so good to get in line and stay there. I gave him a kiss goodbye (putting my sunglasses on to cover the few tears I couldn't hold back) and left! I stood on the other side of the gate (parent's had to leave) and watched him just stand in line looking off and a little worried. Not tears. Just a concerned look. I walked away hoping he would have a good day!

I was very sick over the weekend, and was still not feeling well on Monday, but decided that I had to go and check on him at lunch time. I showed up and was lucky enough to see all three kids. They overlap each other; Boston having lunch 15 minutes before Ethan, and Aubrie and Ethan having the same lunch time. I watched for Ethan to come in, and he didn't look like he was out of place. He came right in, sat down and started eating. I grabbed the two other kids and we went over to say hi. He was happy to see us. I asked how his day was, and he said it was fun and that he had new friends. It made me feel so much better to see how well adjusted he was to his environment!

Later in the day, when we were going over some homework, that asked him where his "favorite place to go" is. He answered, "school! I love school". I thought that maybe it was just the first day that was so fun for him. Today he was ready faster than Aubrie and Boston, and was packing his own lunch before I got downstairs. He also knew he was going to ride the bus for the first time, so maybe that helped things along. He had another good day, and was singing a new song he learned at school, around the house all afternoon.

So of course this is mostly about Ethan going off to Kindergarten, but I can't forget the other kids. Boston was soooo excited for school to start that he could hardly sleep. He picked his outfit out, and when he put it on he said, "Now this is what a second grader looks like!"

Aubrie picked her outfit out months ago. I think I'm having a flashback. How about you? Oh, you can't see all of it! Imagine a hot pink Cindy Lauper looking skirt, black tights, and black converse! Gotta love it! Boston was excited for his class because there were lots of kids he knew, including Brigham and Davis. Aubrie wasn't too happy at first because Gracey wasn't in her class. But all the Mormon kids were, except one. The boy she liked last year was in there, too. She threw a fit during open house, but by the first day of school she was glad she was in that class. Her teacher is new, but taught 4th grade for several years at another school. One of my friends taught with her at the other school and said she was good. Aubrie loves her teacher, especially that she lets her eat in class. She also made a new friend today, which I'm happy about. She was just hanging out with Gracey, primarily, and it was time she realized that she can have more than one friend and still be a good friend to everyone. Such a hard thing for some girls to learn.

Oh...Ethan has a good teacher, too. And there are two kids from church in his class. So all worked out, and all is well. The kids are happy, and so that makes Momma happy!

What have I been doing with only one at home? Well right now nursing a bad cold and finally finishing up the Work and the Glory series! YIPPIE!!!! I LOVED it. So much great Church history info, and I really learned a lot about the development of the west, the Donner party tragedy, and many other things they never taught me in school. I look forward to more quality time with my little girl, who I CANT get enough of right now. She went from being a insubordinate, fit throwing, mischievous little 2 year old, to a fun, exploring, talking, swimming joy, within the past month. I guess all the traveling took the spunk out of her. No...she has plenty of spunk. She just is channeling it better! I'm hoping the terrible two's are finally over! Oh, I just want to go and give her a squeeze right now, before I turn around and am sending her off to school!!!!

Where did the summer go?

We just got back from a quick trip over to California to get out of the heat. It was 115 degrees on Monday and I could tell that Rachel was done with the heat. I suggested that she take the kids and go to visit her brother Danny for a week to get out of the heat. She said that sounded great and started packing. Rachel and the kids left Tuesday morning. Rachel is so good and getting everything packed up and ready to go. I helped load up the car and they were off. I met them at Discount Tire as a surprise to make sure that everything was good with the car. They were happy to see me. I was able to give them all one more kiss before they headed out. I got busy with work and was able to meet with many people. Work is going well, but I am not very patient and want to see results right now. They will come and I will keep my nose down until then.
Rachel called me throughout her journey to give me an update to let me know how the trip was going. It sounded like the kids were all doing well and that the trip was going well. Around 4:30 I got a call from Rachel who sounded panicked. She said that the GPS was jacked up and had here somewhere in Los Angeles and that the car was shuttering and not working well. I said a quick prayer and then tried to help her the best that I could from 300 miles away. I was able to get home and pull up google maps and get her up to Danny's house. The car seemed to work better and she called me once she had arrived at Danny's house. I was relieved that she made it safe and sound. That evening I met Craig for Sushi and then went and watched him play softball. I really miss playing. I don't miss playing when it is 110 degrees! They won both their games. I headed home to get caught up on work stuff and home stuff. This time I decided not to do any major work projects around the house. I learned my lesson from the last time. I did go through and organize the DVDs so that there wasn't such a mess. I knew that would make Rachel happy.
The next day was another full day of work and I got a lot done. I have not liked doing my fire business, but lately I have begun to realize that it is a good job and great money. I am good at it and can get a lot done it a little amount of time. After a long day of fire I decided to head over to California and surprise Rachel and the kids. I also needed to get over there and help Rachel get the car fixed. The dealership was not working with her and the warranty company was also being a pain. I got to Danny's house late, but the kids were surprised to see me and all ran up and hugged on me. It was good to be with them again.
The next morning we woke up and weren't sure what to do. Rachel had seen some coupons for Magic Mountain. They were buy one get one. We weren't sure what to do with Sophia, but Rachel's mom agreed to watch her so that we could go with the kids. We headed out and got there in about an hour. On the way into the park Boston started complaining about his stomach and said that he did not think that he could ride the rides. I don't think the kids had any idea of how big these roller coasters were going to be. I didn't know how big they were going to be either! I had not been to Magic Mountain for over 20 years and many things had changed. We got into the park and walked over to Goliath. Boston was scared crazy, but with some coaxing he got on the ride. Ethan could not ride some of the rides so he would stand in line with us and then wait with either Rachel or myslef for the others to ride. Boston rode with me on Goliath and did really well. He didn't close his eyes once and when the ride was done said that he wanted to go again. I am impressed with the kids. They really don't fear a great deal. There is no way that I could have ridden those rides when I was their age. I probably would not have gone in the park! I was really surprised to see how fast we walked onto the rides. There really wasn't that many people and we walked onto most of the rides until 4:00 p.m. when it started to get a little more crowded. By 8:30 p.m. we were all wasted tired and headed home. The kids passed out in the back seat. Boston managed to stay up the whole way. When we got back to Danny's the kids woke back up and were instantly recharged. We stayed up for a little while longer and then all crashed hard. We had a fun time staying at Danny's. We all crammed into Megan's room. Rachel and Aubrie on the bed, Sophia in the portable crib and me and the boys on the floor. The boys and I slept well and it was nice to have the windows open and feel the cool breeze. It did get a little warm at night with all those bodies in one room but we managed to make it. The next morning we woke up and had cereal and hung out around the house. Aubrie, Sophia and I went on a long walk around Danny's neighborhood. It was fun to get out and walk with the girls. We had a good talk and hunted for snails. We got home from the walk and headed to the dealership to pick up Rachel's car that was not fixed. We decided to get the car fixed back in Phoenix. They would not have Rachel's car fixed until Wednesday or Thursday if we let them fix it in Oxnard. We needed to get back and get ready for dance, piano, karate and school. After we got Rachel's car we headed to the outlets their in Camarillo. We went to the Gap outlet and got a lot of great deals. We were about to check out when this woman asked us if we wanted a coupon that she had printed off the internet. We told her sure. The coupon was for 30% off your entire purchase! We saved over $100 dollars with the coupon. We thanked her again and then headed over to the Converse Store to get some shoes for Ethan. We also got Sophia a pair since it was buy one get one 50% off. It is amazing to me how fashions work in our society. It is only a matter of time before Boston adn Ethan are wearing parachute paints and pegging their jeans and wearing loafers! After the outlets we headed back to Danny's to get our swim on. We had a great time out by the pool and just relaxed. Danny bought some steaks and corn and other trimmings for a BBQ. We had a great dinner and enjoyed each other's company. We ended up watching the Rocketeer and the kids had a great time. I had forgotten how fun that movie was and the kids really loved it. We got to bed and then got ready for the long drive home the next morning.
The next morning we got up and got going. We were packed and out the door around 10:00 a.m. Rachel drove my car home with her mom so that they could listen to Glen Beck's Common Sense on tape. I drove Rachel's car home in case there were any problems. We stopped in palm springs and let the kids play at the McDonalds there off Ramon Rd. It is always nice to stop and let the kids stretch their legs. They do much better on the trip if we break it up a little. Sophia did alright and had a hard time getting to sleep. She finally fell asleep with 30 minutes left in the trip. The cars worked great and we got home without incident. We got home and got everything put away and started laundry. The kids wanted to swim and once everything was picked up we headed out to the pool. It was nice to relax with the kids. We watched the Mummy and got to bed late. I had to get up early the next morning for our weekly meeting. We are all doing well and are getting ready for school to start back up. We don't want school to start back up because it is going to be less time as a family and more activities. I am excited to see the kids grow and get involved in many activities. Aubrie started dance again yesterday and the boys are now signed up for Karate. They are going to have a great time, but had better not fight or use karate for the wrong things. I will make sure they don't. The painters are finishing up the house and it really looks good. I don't have the patience or skill to paint like they do. It really makes a big difference to have it done professionally.

Myrtle Beach Part 2

Myrtle Beach Part 2~

The RESORT

The Resort had a bowling alley/ arcade...and conviently on our Floor. Here are a few pics Aubrie took there!

A view from our room!
Hanging by the pool area!

Myrtle Beach

Myrtle Beach Pictures part 1~

The BEACH!!!

Back from Vacation, not all it cracked up to be, paying off

I figured that it was my time to chime in once again. Summer is screaming by and I want to remember as much of it as I can. I can't believe that we are already halfway through the year! We just got back from Utah for the 4th of July. Before that Rachel and the kids spent two weeks in Raleigh. Rachel had been planning a trip back to Raleigh for quite some time. She loves to go back and visit with our friends the McGees and get out of the heat of Arizona. The kids also like any chance they can get to go on an airplane. I was listening to them as they were preparing for the trip. They were talking about all the fun things that they wanted to do. I asked them what one thing they are most excited about and they all said going to the bathroom on the airplane was definitely on the top of their list. You have to love kids and they way they look at things.

I was preparing myself to not have Rachel and the kids around. I knew that I would play some extra golf and stay up late watching movies, but I knew that I would more than likely be very miserable. I was assured by several friends that I would have the greatest time and that I was lucky. I knew better. I got Rachel and the kids up and ready for the airport. They had to leave around noon so we didn't have to wake up too early. The kids were all very excited and each had their own backpack they were responsible for. We loaded up the car and took off. We got to the airport and unloaded. We got to the ticket counter and were informed that I could not go back with Rachel to the gate because I would not be allowed. I was not happy about this because I wanted to spend as much time as possible with them before they left. I went back to the ticket counter and told the guy to give me a pass and that I would worry if they let me thought or not. Of course, they didn't say anything and I went right through security with them. We spent the next hour sitting and watching the kids. The kids went to the various stores and looked at all the fun things they could buy. Aubrie and Boston ended up buying some colorful rocks from one of the stores. I went to Starbucks and bought smoothies and other goodies to help fill them up. I hate how airlines now charge for every little thing. Pillows, blankets, snacks. It is no wonder they are struggling! The time came to leave and I hugged each child and gave Rachel a squeeze. I rounded the corner and could hear Sophia yelling after me. I said a quick prayer for Rachel because I knew that she had a long trip in front of her. I got to my appointment and started the week. I got a call from Rachel letting me know that she had arrived in Minneapolis and that they were doing fine. I could tell that she was tired and she said that they were having a grand old time. Sophia ended up not sleeping one second on the whole trip. I went about my day and got a lot of work done. I heard from Rachel as soon as they landed and I was grateful that everyone was safe and sound. We spoke for a while and then she said that she needed to get the kids to bed. I hate not being around Rachel and the kids. I wanted to be there with them for family prayers and nighttime prayers and every other little thing. Plus being three hours apart makes it hard as well since you seem to lose more time with each other.

In order to help the time go by more quickly I planned to do a bunch of projects around the house. I did not tell Rachel what I was up to, but had told her that I was hiring a group of guys to come and paint the house. I figured that I would do the painting and use the money that I would have paid the professional painters to do other things around the house. I also cut in a storage space under the stairs, put in a basketball court, put french doors in the office, put an epoxy flooring on the garage floors, removed pavers, put down 1 1/2 tons of quarterminus, framed in the front room and other various things. The painting was insane. I quickly realized that it was a much bigger job than I had expected. I also realized that it was a job that professionals should be doing. I got out my big latter and started to paint the front room. The 20 foot ceilings were daunting, but I survived the taping and painting without killing myself. I also realized much too late that the paint that I got was not all the same color and that the store had not created equal colors! Needless to say I was busy almost the whole time that Rachel and the kids were gone. It really helped me to not focus on them being gone and did help to make the time go by much more quickly. Taylor Price came over to help me with other projects and I was grateful for all his help. My brother-in-law also helped by telling us how to do everything and how he would do everything. We almost snapped and buried him in the desert.

On Father's day I was really bummed not having Rachel and the kids here. Rachel sent me a text and told me to check the blog. I was excited to see what was up. I logged onto the blog to see cards that Rachel and the kids had made me! It made my father's day much better and I was so grateful to Rachel for being so thoughtful. I went to church (fine it was only for the hour that I taught!) and taught my lesson. I then headed home and watched golf and rested from all the work I had done that week. I was invited to go over to the Lorenzana's for Father's Day dinner and had a great time. We had steak and lots of good food. I even got a grab bag. I am lucky to have such good friends. I called Rachel and the kids and was able to speak to them. It was great to hear them and all that they had to say. The kids shared every detail with me about all that they had been up to. I will leave it up to Rachel to fill in what all happened.

The next week was more of the same. Lots of work and counting down the days until I flew to Raleigh to meet up with Rachel and the kids. As the week wore on I started to panic because I realized that I was not going to be able to complete all of the projects I had taken on plus the painting did not turn out as well as I had hoped. I continued to push hard and work well into the night every night.

Finally Thursday arrived and I got up very early to catch my 7:00 a.m. flight. I was to bounce through Houston on my way to Raleigh. I was able to call Rachel and she told me that she had rolled her ankle the night before at a church volleyball game. I was sorry to hear that she was out of commission. I had no idea how badly she had turned her ankle, but was glad that nothing was broken. I got into Raleigh and Jason picked me up at the airport. It was good to see him and to catch up. We got to his home and the kids all came running to see me. It was so good to see them again. I found Rachel on the couch with her foot elevated to relieve the pain that she was having from her ankle. It was good to hold her again and help her with the kids. Everything seemed to be normal again even though we were miles from home. The next morning we woke up and headed down to Myrtle Beach. It took us a little over 4 hours to get down there. Of course we had to stop at the outlet mall on the way and get some much needed things! I really do appreciate Rachel and all that she does for the family. She is always thinking ahead and capitalizing on sales and keeping the kids clothed. I am sure that if it were up to me they would continue to wear the Old Navy 4th of July t-shirts from 2008!

We got into the hotel and lugged everything up the elevators and settled into the room. The kids were climbing the walls and wanted to go swimming immediately. We all changed and headed down to the pool. The kids had a wonderful time in the pool, lazy river and hot tub. We grabbed some grub and then went to bed early since we were all wiped out. The next morning we got up and hit the beach. It was great to see the kids and Rachel out in the water. They were all bogey boarding and digging sand castles and doing the normal beach stuff. Sophia got into the beach as well. She liked to go out with me into the water and to dig with Ethan on the beach. We kept going back and forth from the beach to the pool all day long. Later in the evening we had dinner and then headed out to play minigolf. The weather did not cooperate and we returned home to play cards and hang out. The next day was another beach day and we had another great day. Later in the afternoon we went bowling at the hotel. The kids loved to bowl and play video games and it was a great time. Boston really had a great time bowling and had a great time every time that he got a strike. He ended up bowling over a hundred. Ethan also had a great time. He loved to run up and throw the ball in lots of different ways. It was fun to watch him. Aubrie is getting so old. She is only a few days away from being a young woman and I am not ready for it. She is a wonderful daughter and a great helper to Rachel. After bowling we ate tacos and then headed out to play minigolf. We found a fun mini golf place near the hotel and the kids had a great time playing. It was fun to watch everyone take their turns and encourage each other. At the end of the round we had snow cones and relaxed in the humidity. Sophia fell asleep in her stroller and we were able to get her home without waking her. She was spent after a long day at the beach. That night we played cards and then hit the sack. The next morning we checked out of the hotel and then headed to the water park. The kids had a wonderful time with the tube rides and the lazy river. I was allowed to take Sophia down the tube rides and she had a blast. She kept telling me to go. I was getting tired of dragging her and the tube up to the top, but continued to do so as she directed. After 4 hours we were baked and headed back to Raleigh. I forget how hot it can be with humidity. It was 98 degrees with 95% humidity! YUCK! The ride home went fairly quick. The kids slept and Rachel was good enough to keep my company for the ride back. I love driving with Rachel. We are able to spend good time together and just talk. It was a great ride back. As soon as we got back we unloaded the car and started to do laundry and prepare for the trip back. Rachel is very organized and clean and I did not fully appreciate that until this trip. I am grateful for her because everything is always clean and orderly. It would make everything much more difficult otherwise.

The trip back was much easier. It was a direct flight and Sophia slept. We did have a couple of outbursts, but the portable DVD player made everything much easier. We landed and got all of our stuff on the shuttle bus and loaded it into our car. I was excited to get home and show the family all that I had done. I pulled into the driveway and took them around the side of the house to show them the basketball court. The boys went nuts and started shooting hoops immediately. That made me feel really good. I went on to show them the rest of the house and it was great. It was so good to be home again! We started getting ready for our next trip. I had work the next day and got home later that afternoon to help Rachel pack. We left Thursday morning for Utah. We headed out around 8:00 a.m. and began our 10-hour-journey. The trip went well and everyone seemed to tolerate it well. We got into Provo and dropped our stuff off at the hotel and then headed to the mall. There was a sale at Justice and Aubrie was able to get some more things. We also went to Cafe Rio for dinner. Rachel loves Cafe Rio. We only have one here and it is over an hour away. We headed back to the hotel and crashed. We were able to sleep in and that made it much better. The main reason that I wanted to go up to Provo over the 4th of July was to see family, but also to go to the Oquirh Mountain Temple open house. I wanted the kids to see the temple and get a better understanding of what it looked like and what to expect. It was a great teaching experience and the kids really had a great time. It was awesome to see the temple. We also drove up to the Draper Temple and drove around up there for a little while. The kids liked the temples, but did not like the driving. We headed back to Provo for Sophia's nap. I left Rachel, Ethan and Sophia and took Aubrie and Boston to Escape to Witch Mountain at Movies 8. Aubrie told me that the theater smelled like Pooh and I had to agree. We watched the movie and the kids really enjoyed it. After the movie we went back to the hotel to get Rachel and Ethan and Sophia. We could not think of anything to do. I spoke to my Uncle Jim and he said that they were going to the Orem Owls baseball game that night and that there would be fireworks after. Rachel and I decided that the kids would enjoy the game so we went. It was a great time. There was a play area right off the field and Sophia had a great time. We ate lots of popcorn and soda and took it all in. At the end of the game the fireworks went off. Sophia laid back in my chest and watched. She really liked it a great deal, but was not too found of the big booms. We headed back to the hotel and called it a night. The next morning we woke up early to go the the parade. I went out to the car to discover that someone had keyed our car and scratched it up and down both sides. I was ticked and had to file a police report. We made our way down to Center and 3rd East and parked. We met up with the family there and had a great time watching the parade. I can remember the parade from when I was a child so it was fun to watch the kids take it all in. They ran after candy and threw the poppers. It rained a little on us and then really heated up. It seems like the heat has followed us no matter where we have been. At the end of the parade we headed up to Dave and Marilyn's for a BBQ. We had a great time swimming and eating. We headed back to the hotel for Sophia's nap. I stayed with her this time while Rachel took the other children up to Bridal Vail Falls. The kids climbed up the falls and got all dirty and wet. Rachel called to tell me that they were having a great time. They got back to pick us up and we had Olive Garden for dinner. After dinner I dropped Rachel, Aubrie and Boston off to go to the Stadium of Fire. The Jonas Brothers were the main draw this year and Aubrie was super excited to see them. She did not know that we had tickets for her and she was out of her mind when she found out that she was going. I took Ethan and Sophia to my Uncle Jim's house and we set off fireworks and visited. I headed back to Provo in time to see the fireworks from the stadium of fire. It was nice that our hotel was right next to the stadium. Rachel and the kids came home and told us all about all that they had seen. I was so happy that they had such a wonderful time. We called it a night and then headed to bed very late.

The next day we woke up late and headed for home. The trip was great until we got to Camp Verde. The highway was a parking lot and we took a detour through Jerome and then into Wickenburg. I was glad when we finally got home 12 1/2 hours after we began. It is nice to be back with Rachel and the kids and safe.

Last night we had family home evening. Sometimes Rachel and I get frustrated with the kids. They fight or yell or tease and sometimes we feel that we are not doing the best job as parents. At the end of Family Night each of the kids on their own got up and bore their testimonies. It was awesome to see and I can tell that the Lord really has prepared this generation for what is coming. I am grateful for my family and love them very much.