Sights of Summer

I know the masses out there have been waiting for all the pics of our summer fun. I hate to disappoint....so, here are a few glimpses of our recent activities:

Fireworks on the Fourth of July...Katelee claimed to love them, but kept asking when they would be over. She enjoyed the light display much more at her cousin's house on a different night when they were far away.

Baseball games... Here are Dave and Grant at a Bee's game. Dave and I also went to Atlanta to celebrate his big 30th!!! We went to a Braves vs Red Sox game, where there were more sox fans dominating the stands. I forgot my camera, so just imagine us in our baseball fan apparel and sweating our guts out because Atlanta was on fire and humid!
Sleepovers with your best buddy (who sometimes doubles as your worst nightmare if you are Katelee. Poor girl is tortured daily)
Camping and Fishing with my familiy:
Grant caught 6 fish! Everyone who tried their hand with a pole reeled something in, with the exception of me. Ah well, Dave and I are not naturals with the fishing routine. As you can guess from this picture, when my sister Paige tried to retrieve the line Dave cast into the dead tree.
Not so sure the life vest fit Katelee very well, but she really enjoyed long-boarding! Her cousin Haley would take the little cousins on rides around the campground loop and I am pretty sure it was the highlight of the trip for them.

Wild Animals

Last week at the zoo, some of the animals were wandering about. I found a mighty cute tiger and a ferocious alligator. I thought some of you might want to take a peek:
I have learned that even wild animals can display some sort of manners. The other day, Katelee finished her food, wanted some of Grant's and he graciously submitted to her screams. After he shared I told him how nice that was and he replied with, "Ah, well I just love her SO much...and it's happy sister's day!" Here's Katelee all tuckered out after a full day.

We were happy to have Grandma and Grandpa with us this week. In one of our conversations, Grant asked Grandpa how old he is and after Grandpa told him. Grant's jaw hit the floor, his eyebrows lifted and he exclaimed, " I can't believe my eyes!" It must be because of how wonderful granpa looks, Grant wasn't guessing a day over 6!

Oliver and His Company...

So, the other day Grant told me he wished his name was Oliver. Do you know an Oliver? Grant doesn't.Here are some pics of little Oli feeding the ducks on Memorial Day and at his preschool graduation. He did a great job singing and performing in the little play, but my favorite part was the continuous winking towards me with the finger click and accompanying sound! We are so proud of his completion of such rigorous studies. Here he is with his friend Andrew whom we carpooled with, gotta love the 4 year old conversations in the back seat. He is still the garbage loving boy he was a year ago...but he can write his name now. The other night I asked him to clean up all the bits of toliet paper he had scattered around the house cuz it was time for bed ( this is the tp he puts in blocks and then his garabage truck picks them up). Oliver (aka Grant) refused, saying he needed the trash. I told him, "hey dont' worry about it, I will get you more toliet paper tomorrow." I bet no one else can say they have ever said that...Anyway, I repeated the request to throw the shredded tp away and he said, "Mo-om, garbage is of God." Welcome to our days of holy waste dispensing!

Flying the Friendly Skies

A few weeks ago, Grant missed out on a church primary activity because of a stomach bug. My sister helped me prepare for the activity, as it was a mock flight around the world on an airplane. She provided genuine flight attendant apparel, etc so our activity was a success. But, she also knew Grant would have loved it. So, because she is just so nice, she planned a little flight for Grant at our house. Here we are learning about oxygen safety measures:
Here we are en route to Africa, Disneyland and Salt Lake City (as designated by Captain Grant). We were also lucky to have family members on our same flight! The kids had a great time exploring the regions of our world...via the insulated basement.What a nice aunt to arrange it and thanks to Paige for joining our journey as well. Some people have been asking for photos of our house, hope you enjoy the cement floors!

We are also so proud of Dave, who with a three day notice and a one day training, signed up and completed his first half marathon! Way to go! Just imagine how great that pic would be if the man in front of the camera didn't stand up...just know this is Dave in action!

Breaking Bones and Breaking the Law

Our poor little pretty fell down the stairs last week. It was right before bedtime, so I put her to bed afterwards and the morning after we could tell she needed to be seen. We zipped on up to the hospital and found that her little clavicle snapped in two during the trip down the stairs. She has been a great trooper, although the sling lasted only for about 46 seconds. Katelee is not a lover of the tylenol/motrin regime she has been prescribed and has detected it in her apple juice and chocolate milk and then refuses to drink. She told me she will take it on her own and the little sneak gets the cup up to her chin and then slowly tips it down her shirt or will take a small sip only to spit it out the side. Good thing the projected recovery time is only three weeks!
Later that week, Grant decided that a pack of gum calling his name at Kinkos did not need to be paid for and he swiped it right into his pocket. He later confessed to Dave...the gum was returned...no charges have been filed at this time! Grant has been teaching us after the infamous gum theft, about "sins," and other things that are "un-assesstable" (I believe unacceptable is the proper word he was going for here.) We receive these lessons as he teaches us when we play "church" or "primary." Last time he conducted a meeting, he taught me a soul saving lesson, all about AMERICAN EXPRESS! Like father, like son I suppose!