Last Days With Kyle

 He is now Elder P and on his way to Florida for two years.  So we had to soak him in real good before we said good-bye.

 And we did all his favorite things. We played hours of Werewolf.  Stan was in rare form, at his theatrical best.  We were all in stitches as his little nose creeped over his book of mystery narrative notes.

 Then there was Grandma throwing out TMI about some of the particulars of her anatomy. 

She had us on the floor. Kyle, RUN.

 The Grandma took us all bowling!

 Which included a peek at some nearby livestock just behind the restaurant next door. Talk about fresh.

 Then hoops,

 games,

 and swimming....Nat and Stan's house is heaven.

Kyle, you are going to make a fantastic missionary!

We love you and we'll write lots!

For Me It's the Sound of Tires on a Gravel Road...

 that opens the flood gates of memories of summer trips to my grandparent's house in Idaho.  Hearing the sound of the tires roll over that gravel always takes me back to those butterflys I would get because I knew we were finally there.  So I started wondering what will trigger those memories for my kids and I think it just might be the smell of fresh squeezed lemons.  Man, they love to pick lemons make homemade lemonade at grandma and grandpa's house.

It's magical!

But the again, it could be the sound of grandpa's motorcycle engine revving...

...or the soft tap of the chess pieces as they battle it out.   

My kids have the best grandparents ever!

And it's only Day 1!

Girls Movie Day

 Monte Carlo was the movie and it was cute as can be.  Loved being shushed by Breezy for talking to Ri during the previews, Bree's record 3 potty trips, Riley pointing out all the non-real moments as they went down, that the other Riley was voted hands down the biggest hottie in the movie (hey with a name like that...) and...

that this girl wanted to cuddle up to me almost the enitre time.

(yes the air was on full force and it was FREEZING, but I'll take a cuddle any day, no questions asked:)

A Wrinkle In Time

Breanna wanted to do a Mother/Daughter book read this summer so we picked the book, A Wrinkle In Time.  I fell in love with this book when my 5th grade teacher read it to our class. And a few years ago, I read it to Jake and Bree and it became one of their faves too. So tonight, we got together with a few friends and Bree came up with a some questions and led a really great discussion on the book.  And I have to say those girls had some pretty deep insight on the book.  Man those girls are smart!  I loved hearing how it made them think about different things.  It was such a cool night.  Then we had treats and watched the movie (Well, the kids watched the movie. The moms talked and were told we were being too loud...how funny is that?)

Such a fun night, thanks everyone for coming!

And if you missed it... 

it looks like we have the next two months lined up:

 Rachel picked Mockingbird by Katheryn Erskine for August
and Georgia's got Number the Stars by Lois Lowry for September...

so if you're up for a good read and a knock-your-socks off discussion, come join us!

FABULOUS 4th of JULY!

 The men enjoying the National Hot Dog Eating Contest

 Jake went out to the pool and couldn't stop talking about how PERFECT the pool was!

 After a MOST tastey dinner, we headed outside for fireworks.

 Ava was so cute taking care of Luke and reminding him to stay back if he got too close to the fireworks.  Boys and girls are so different when it comes to fire!

 Then back inside for games and fun that could have lasted all night. 

Those Vallerys have got the ultimate fun house!

Sarah (& Jamie), you are so amazing to have us all last minute the day you got back from vacation! 

Thanks for such a fun night.  And even though we didn't quite get to the politics we were hoping to discuss (darn Selena Gomez) it was still the best dinner ever! 

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!

Hometown Fireworks

 Actually, we started off with hometown pizza...

 then poppers...man I should have bought at least a dozen boxes, the kids were loving them.

 Cute girls!

 Handsome boys!

 Glow Sticks....now should a 4 year-old really be able to break into them and shake the liquid out all over EVERYTHING?

 Oooh...

 Ahhhh....

 Ooooo....and Luke made some new lady friends. They were so amazingly sweet with him.  It's funny how there were at least 6-8 boys he could have been running around with but he just kept plopping himself down next to these cute girls (and Brit too even tho she's not in this pic).  The night was so fun. The fireworks show was really good.  The 115 degree heat was actually pretty bearable.  And even though the boys did not want to sit by us, we fixed that in the end (we also got rid of Jon's personal space which I'm guessing was the highlight of his night:) We did have some scary moments tho, like Tyler getting taken down by his own chair at Barros, losing 1 of our own in the dark, and getting glow stick stuff in the eye.  And my flash that kept going off in Jer's eyes.  That nearly cost me my life. 

(But well worth it for these sweet pics, right?) 

I loved this night and I love celebrating the 4th all weekend long!