what do you do in the summertime

We read lots of good books







and make silly looks

(he had a little too much chocolate shake to drink!)


We draw with our chalks




and go on long walks. (well, I walk, they RIDE)




We eat lots of cake

And see the neighbor's dog, Jake! (he has adopted my grandparents and comes over when he's hungry)
We lay in the shade



and drink lemonade! (we're addicted to Crystal Light)




We play on the frog


and I work on my blog



We drive on our "loop"




The boys ride in the Coupe





We eat rhubarb pie




and Carter climbs high!






We did much more than this, but you'll have to wait.
I'll be sure to post more, when it's not so late.

not the camera!

My mom has this huge camera and Carter didn't seem to be a fan whenever she took some pictures with it. He is so wary of it, he keeps on eye on it whenever it's out! It was a hoot.

what do you remember?

Thought this would fun to do! Dust off those memories and share them. To those few whom I was teasing and stole your lunch money, I apologize.



1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

lost in spokane

That was fun! NOT. Just got home from dropping my mom off at the airport. Here's my drama for today:

After dropping her off and saying goodbye, I realized that I needed to find a gas station before heading back. The only problem was that there weren't any stations JUST OFF THE FREEWAY, (well, maybe there are, but I couldn't find one) so you have to go out of your way to get lost, and then hopefully you can find your way back. (I'm so not a good navigator, I'm terrible with directions) Finally found a good-priced gas station (there's an oxymoron) and then set out to find my way back home. Nice little hour-long detour....NOT.



Found a couple signs that helped guide me to where I THOUGHT I wanted to go, but then got lost amid the one-way signs and AWFUL SPOKANE drivers! They're so RUDE! Maybe they're okay, but I just happen to get a few grouchy ones in a row. It's overwhelming being in a city that you only know ONE person; thank you Cassie for staying on the phone with me and telling me how to get home! Carter doesn't feel very well and was very uncomfortable and crying, Dawson wanted to get out and was crying because he missed his "Grammie" and Ryanna was bored and wanted to go over to Cole's house. It was a VERY LONG JOURNEY home! So glad that we got home safely, though. We were only in car for 5 1/2 hours! I'm sure that Mom even made it to SLC before we even got home. Thanks for coming to visit, Mom!

how many more?

In the last two days, we've squished, whacked, slapped, thunked and splatted ELEVEN wasps inside our house! We've looked around and can't really see where they can enter the house and don't know where the little buggers are hiding. The last two years haven't ever been this bad, so I don't know. Any suggestions how to locate and get rid of 'em?? I'm so JUMPY now!

sweet pictures

A couple pictures from yesterday's festivities from Mom's party and from the pool. (thanks Mom for letting me steal these from you!)

cake and presents

A very special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dear Mom! I am so tickled that she wanted to come up and spend her birthday with us! We're off to buy her a Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake and she's getting some really cool presents from Bath and Body Works. (there aren't many things that she can take back with her to China...but she still has priorities!) More pictures from the party later. Happy Birthday to my Mom!



Mom with Sister Julie Beck. (Mom's on the right)

She makes friend where ever she is.
Ryanna with her Grammie when she was little...oh how we love Grammie!

random pictures

What do you get when you take: one suitcase, some dress-up clothes, a trick-or-treat Winnie-the-Pooh bucket, a wig and a hat?
"A little statue of a girl" Ryanna says!

The kids are good buddies. They're waiting to go to the pool and are patiently watching a movie.

love to blog

This is my 218th post since last June...I love blogging!

You know your life revolves around your blog when:
-something happens to your child and instead of grabbing a band-aid, you grab your camera
-the only thing that gets you out of bed in the morning is a thought, "what can I blog today?"
-you take your camera everywhere just to make sure you don't miss that "special" photo (because you used to only take pictures during birthdays and holidays)
-something happens to YOU and you say to yourself,"this is a horrible situation, but it will make for a fabulous blog post!"

no longer a baby

My precious little boy is officially a walker! I honestly kept him FROM it for as long as I could. He walked 5 feet yesterday without falling and now is testing the waters as much as he can. He still climbs like a little monkey and now he's walking! I'll be sure to record a little blip and see if I can post it later this week. He's a cutie!

she's here!

After weeks and weeks of anticipation, my MOM is finally here! She's here at my house and will be here for 10 days. She brought presents from China for us and it's so fun having her here. She's going to let me read her copy of 'The Host' (I know, I'm so behind) and I can't wait to blog the fun. Hooray!