First Piggy-Back Ride

 Hangin' with Dad.

Giant Bubbles: Epic Pinterest Fail

 

Pinterest promised these bubbles would be big and awesome.  At least for these two...splashing counts too.

Visit from Friends

 

 

Nate and Deborah and their kids have been dear friends for a long time!  So fun to see them on their trip out here to visit family!  There are perks to having your new location be Utah!

Family Swim

With swimming lessons came a free pass for each child to the local wave pool.  We had a fun Saturday trying it out as a family!

Jumbo Jenga

One of the fun things the young men did during camp-outs in our last ward was play Jumbo Jenga.

Greg has been getting ready for High Adventure with the Priests in Yellowstone, and thought he'd better take a set.  Our kids have loved it!

 

 

Help with the Dishes

 

I'm trying to have kids do more helping with jobs around the house...even if it takes a little longer than it would if I did it myself.  I asked Joshua to unload the dishwasher and came back to find the "castle" he'd made for me.

World's Biggest Swimming Lesson

 

Fulfilled something on both Nathan's and my bucket lists today!  We've always wanted to be in the  Guinness Book of World Records, and today at swimming lessons they told us that people across the globe were uniting during that hour as part of the "World's Biggest Swimming Lesson".  Nothing like a little summer serendipity!    

Yard Sale for a Cause

 

Our Grandma Franson put together an amazing fundraising garage sale this last weekend.  It was a really neat thing for our whole family to be able to work together to pull off.  Nathan and Joshua, especially, took to the whole thing.  Nathan loved marking prices and then going back through to "discount" them when the time came.  Joshua was given a table to be in charge of (jewelry and ribbon) and amazed us all by his change-making, wheeling-and-dealing, and guilting-people-into-spending abilities!  :)

First Slurpee of the Summer

A perk for all of us while Daddy was at Youth Conference during several evenings this last week.

Making Popcorn

Working on requirements with Nathan for Cub Scouts has turned into a fun summer activity for all of us.  It's a great excuse to do new things, and feels happy to in the process "get something done".  This week we made caramel popcorn for Nathan to take to his den meeting.

It makes it extra fun that we've recently been given a real popcorn popper!

The One Time Aaron Sits Perfectly Still...

Opening a Can of Creativity

I let Nathan use my camera for the first time and I'm not sure I'll ever get it back!  He's been making Lego scenes, taking pictures, editing them, adding words, and creating collages that look like comic strips!  Fun what a creative mind and new "tool" can do!

Happy Father's Day!

Couldn't ask for a more wonderful Dad!

Picnic Lunch

 

At the end of every summer I have major anxiety that somehow I haven't done enough to make it the "magical" time I should for my kids.  This summer I'm going to try to document the small daily moments that make our summer great...so we'll have happy times to look back on and be able to remember we did make the most of it!

Splash Pad

Trying to figure out what "the locals" do around here for the summer.  We tried out this nearby splash pad and had a great time!  I love doing water without too much concern for drowning!  Would have taken more pictures of Joshua and Nathan, but they were off playing and scheming elsewhere (see lower left picture).  

Neighborhood 5K

We felt so guided to buy a home in the neighborhood we did...without really understanding why.  But, it's fun to get a better feel for the area and the people and find what a really good fit it is for us.  This is last week's neighborhood 5K Walk/Run/Ride.  Down our favorite long, rural road ... twice around the local pavilion ... and back for watermelon in the park.  It was awesome if we can just forget the part about when Nathan's bike chain fell off three times and he royally skinned his knees.  He was a trooper to finish!  But, we won't wonder why it's Joshua's smiling face pictured here.  :)

Summertime!

There's a canal/creek that winds behind our neighborhood, and this last week we found a rope swing that makes it magical!  Brought back such great memories of "the Thoughtful Spot" of my childhood!

 

Nathan wasn't so sure about this...but felt like quite the conqueror once he'd done it.

Memorial Day in Logan

So great to see Luthy family we haven't seen in years!

Listening to the stories...

 

A stop at where our first home used to be ... the USU trailer park, now field and new church building!

Showing the kids Snow Hall, where Greg lived when we met each other.

Quite the happenings at Mom and Dad's.  Digging up major irrigation pipes in the side-yard.

Being silly with Grandpa.

Memorial Day in American Fork

It means so much to get to be here on days like Memorial Day.

A funeral was happening nearby while we were at the cemetery.  Grandpa pulled Elizabeth aside to tell her all about what was happening.  I even heard a bit of the plan of salvation thrown in.  I wondered how much Elizabeth had really understood, but didn't have to wonder long!  When we were taking pictures at the end, the camera batteries ran completely out.  When I explained that the camera had died, Elizabeth said, "Well, we better bury it deep then, and say a prayer!"  

 

Living the Good Life

Biking has become our favorite family hobby these last few weeks.  (Aaron and Elizabeth usually ride in a bike trailer I didn't get in these pictures.)  There's a long, less-traveled road that connects to a trail that winds behind our home.  We've named the horses we pass on the way, and there are two colts down at the end of the road we always "check on".  There is something about cruising along that rural road with Greg and the kids that gives me the most happy, content feelings.  It's when I most feel like life is a dream come true.

 

 

Progressive Dinner

Our ward was having a progressive dinner, and didn't have enough families volunteer to host.  So, we were asked it we'd be willing.  We had four couples at our home.  We set with China and made a nice dinner.  But, Greg wanted a little something to break the ice.  So, he went to McDonald's and asked them for a bunch of empty bags.  He put random pantry items from home in them to weigh them down and set one on each plate.  When the couples (who we hardly knew) came, he told them we though we'd just keep things simple and ordered out.  The guests were really nice about it...much to my mortification!  And, then we all had a good laugh about it.  Pictures of our table were shown at PEC meeting the next morning.  

When we first moved back both Greg and I had a hard time not feeling like "just another Mormon number" in the ward/neighborhood.  Count on Greg to work very hard at setting us apart from the crowd.  ;)

 

Goodbye to an Old Friend

  

 

Just in case we hadn't had enough of money spending and big decisions, our van started having difficulties that were going to cost more than it was worth.  So, we've turned in our old red Chrylser Town & Country for a new red Chrysler Town & Country.  Just had to get some last pictures of our good old van that has seen us through a lot of good years and miles.

Grandma and Grandpa Luthy's House

 

 

 

It took us several weeks before we made it up to Logan for the first time -- not for lack of desire but just for being in the thick of everything with the house.
 I think I underestimated how great it would feel to bring our kids "home".