Deer Creek

Back in the Spring, our ward had a silent auction to raise funds for Youth Conference. We won a day on the Abrahamson's boat. We tried to go one day in July, but the keys to the boat mysteriously disappeared, so we rescheduled.

It was windy and the water was way too choppy, but we still managed to have fun!

36

Nathan got a skateboard for his birthday. He tried it out to see if he still had moves.

Gillian was more a fan of the skateboard than Nathan was. It's been sitting in the garage ever since.

Girls Camp

I finally pulled some pictures from Gillian's camera. Here's the ones she took at Girls Camp in July:


Rachel and Sammie


Maddie and Sam

That's disturbing.

Where'd the Summer Go?

Is is possible to be busy doing nothing? I think so. It must be, because that's exactly been the case around here this summer. Since we got back from AZ, we haven't really done anything super exciting, but our days are still filled with the usual summer past times: sleeping in, swimming, playing with neighborhood friends, vegging on the couch watching TV, getting books from the library and letting them sit in a pile in the corner until it's time to return them, playing lots of Wii (Henry got two new games for his b-day), Happy Hour slushes at Sonic, movies, and staying up until 9:30 or 10:00 waiting for the sun to go down. Speaking of, this is what the sky looked like last night over the mountains at sunset:

Samantha and Gillian went to Girls Camp 3 weeks ago, and Elliot attended his first Cub Scout camp - super fun for them! I dropped Sam off at another camp early this morning. Lucky. Oakcrest camp is just for girls who are going in 8th or 9th grade, and she was way excited to go.

Oh, yeah - there was the Fourth of July. We went to downtown Provo with Sommer's family for the Freedom Festival. Now I've done it. Don't need to do it again. Then we went to Bridalveil Falls in Provo Canyon for a picnic and to let the kids play in the water. And of course we saw fireworks.

Red, white and blue cake. . .

. . . followed by sparklers.

We do have some more exciting plans for August, however. We will be going to Lagoon when Samantha gets back from Oakcrest, and then a weekend at Bear Lake with ward friends. Grandma and Grandpa AND Nana and Papa are coming for a visit, and Nathan and the boys have a Fathers and Sons outing. So, when it's all said and done, I think it will have been a favorable summer. And school will start again - hoorah!

Arizona

After our visitors left, I packed up the kids and headed to Arizona for 10 days. Sommer did the same. We did plenty of fun things, including finally getting to really see baby Duncan, playing at the park and the splash pad, going out to dinner in Scottdale, lunch with Granny, a birthday party for Henry at Peter Piper Pizza, going to the pool, and a Jackson family party. I only remembered to pull out my camera a couple of times to take pictures:

And we managed to survive the heat. Barely.

Schools Out! Time for...Visitors!

Nana, Papa, Aubree and Olivia came for a visit. They arrived on the last day of school - what a way to kick off the summer! We took them to Slab to see Eric and eat the best pizza in the world. We also visted Temple Square in Salt Lake City and had dinner at Ruth's Diner in Emigration Canyon. We spent Sunday afternoon in Millcreek Canyon and drove back to SLC to see the temple light up when the sun went down.

Aubree was really intersted in the temples. We put our pajamas on one night just to drive to the Draper Temple after dark.

We were happy to learn that Aubree had been taking the missionary discussions and was wanting to be baptized. We're so proud of you Aubs!

Aunt Nat

Gillian was recently assigned a project at school to write a report about her hero. This is what she came up with:



My hero is my aunt Natalie. She is a great example to me. She has been through a lot. She had a premature baby boy. He was born 15 weeks early! He was in the hospital for a long time. When he was finally able to go home, no one was able to see him. I only got to see him through a window! Although I have never get to spend time with him, I am sure Natalie is raising a wonderful little boy. She has made it through this rough past year.

My aunt Natalie is also funny. She has a great sense of humor! She laughs at our jokes and has her own share of making everybody laugh. I always have a great time when she is around.

She is also very nice and caring. I know she is always there for me. She will play with all the little cousins. She will cheer you up when you're sad. My aunt Natalie is no Super hero, she is just a one of kind person. I love you Nat!

Pinewood Derby

From the moment Elliot became a Cub Scout, he's been looking forward to the Pinewood Derby. Tonight was finally the night!


Here's the car:






3...2...1...






GO!




Elliot's car was the winner the first two times down the track, and came in second in the two races after that. His hopes for first place were high, but as it turned out, the winners are determined by their average speed down the track, not by the number of races won. Elliot ended up in about 6th or 7th place, but he said he had a lot of fun. We'll get 'em next year Elliot!

Crap.

Quartz

A little background before the punchline...


Elliot recently had a geology unit in school and he has become obsessed with rocks. He comes home from school everyday with rocks he's picked up on the way home from school. He begged us to get the rock tumbler down from the shelf only to find that the rubber piece that turns the gear was worn. After much pestering, we fixed the gear and ordered new grit and polish. He's also been reading tons of books on the subject of rocks.

So... needless to say, I found it extremely hilarious this evening when Elliot came running down the hall in a panic with an agitated Henry right on his heels with a large piece of quartz in his hand. Elliot screams, "Mom! Henry's going to hit me with the 7th hardest mineral!"