The bad stuff first though...we had to say goodbye to three families.
The first to depart were Matt, Ann, Emma, Ben, Kate and Will who took off to Illinois. They are one of the funniest couples I've met..I laughed all the time when I was around them. At the end of their time here we got together a couple of times to play rockband. Funny stuff. And their musical talent is amazing. Ann can sing...and Matt can too, Bon Jovi ....and I'll miss free Prism tickets from Matt :(!
Then Tricia, McKay, Cameron, Jessica and Thomas had to go and fly the coop to Pennsylvania, which isn't all bad cause they're super close to NYC (my bff) and will let us come stay..evenutually ...for a day or so ...maybe. They are the smartest people I've ever known, really, hands down. Also one of the nicest. Thomas was one of our regular play dates and we will miss him and Tricia is a wonderful person/friend. I learned a lot from her and wonder now who will keep me grounded. Ah well...there are six new families moving into the ward. Tricia replaced Misty so I'm sure Heavenly Father is sending a replacement.
During the holidays we would gather with McKay, Tricia and crew for a white elephant Christmas party , but since we won't be able to make it to PA this year we held a Christmas in July party and did our white elephant exchanges. It was fun, apparently too much fun cause we have not pics...but here's a pic of them I stole from their web site :).
Then Earl, Bernee, Melainee, Joe, Kenslee, Evee, and Cord headed back to ID after their one year stint here. We loved having them here. More energy in one family than I've known collectively from everyone else I know...for real. They were always on the go and very athletic. Bernee challenged me at the gym and Joe and Kenslee kept me on my toes when they came over. The girls loved their house and thought we were supposed to move into it when they moved..alas not to be.
Here's a pic of Bernee, Rachel and I after the Turkey trot last year...
Good people who are missed...already.
On to the better stuff....
We started out going to St. George Island, with mom, Frank, Carmen, Rachel and kids. We all had such a good time we said we should do it once a month..no..once a week....that really didn't materialize like we hoped and haven't been back since.
But we also went to Wakulla Springs with Bernee and Rachel and kids and it was cold, but so nice. The kids loved it. Laura jumped off the 2nd level jump because Kenlsee promised her five cookies. Cole and Joe caught minnows and made an aquarium. The kids all made a canal from the "beach" to the water and kept turns continually filling up.
We went to Orlando at some point, to the temple. The kids are always so good about going. I think it was just a day trip. We went into a souvenir store just to look and kill time. Every time I turned around Hannah had six things in her hand and had just dropped five cause she couldn't hold it all, it was cute, but we won't be using that as a time killer again.
We met Brandon's work friend Tomas and his kids at Ichetucknee....such a nice place. The water is cold, cold, but in July it's just hot enought to enjoy. I wasn't sure how Hannah would do, but we went down it twice and she did just fine.
My sister Melissa had a baby, Alec Christian on June 23rd (?)...she asked the docs to induce and they weren't crazy about the idea, but Alec came in over 10lbs...so it was all good.
Brandon had a family reunion in ID we wanted to get at least him to and we wanted to see baby Alec, so we got him a flight from Charlotte to UT and we stayed and hung with Lissa while he reunionized. We all had a good time, but parenting is so much funner and easier with him around. But there's also nothing like saying hello again after being apart, such a good feeling. :)
We had such a good time, but of course it's nice being home.
The kids took four days of swim lessons from a nice girl in Carmen's ward. Everyone progressed, Cole swam and floated!, Hannah went underwater and swam with a noodle and Laura was swimming backwards and diving (she didn't like the diving).
I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff. In one week and three days I will send all of the my kids to school (Hannah PK4). It is a whole new chapter of life. I will miss the kids and wondering what on earth I'll do with my time, but am excited for Hannah to go to school, she's going to be so cute and probably make lots of friends and for me to be able to work during the day and our family gets a whole other night of the week back..wow!
Now for the cooler weather to sweep in!
