Krystal Joins the 2-Wheeler World

This little girl has wanted to ride a 2 wheeler SO BAD for quite awhile.  Having 2 siblings that ride all over the neighborhood without her has just been a little too much for Krystal.  She has pestered and pestered and pestered us to help her.  She just couldn't QUITE reach the pedals all the way on the 2 wheeler bike we had for her .  But, it didn't stop her from trying.  Finally - Ty took the training wheels off of her mini Elmo bike ... and voila ... 15 minutes later - she's a 2-wheeler!

Look at her go!

Summer Swim

We were hoping for a Summer filled with lots of trips to the swimming pool.  As it is ... we've been like 4 times.  I guess that's not too bad.  Here are some pictures from our FIRST trip to the pool this Summer back in June:

I feel so lucky that my kiddos have great friends and each other ... and they ALL stick together pretty good.  Makes lounging on the side preeeeeeettttttty easy for me.  :)  My kind of swimmin'!

Priceless ...

I am so lucky to have this girl:

And this boy:

They are truly priceless!

Thanks Marissa ... and Aaron - for being such great helpers, examples, siblings, and friends.

Summer-time Sibling Sleep-over!

Ha!  I love how Marissa and Aaron just read right through Krystal's singing voice while her Barbie dances.  These kids know how to party harty!  :)

Hair-y

I was finally able to even out Aaron's "buzz" cut. I can do ONE haircut ... and a buzz is just too hard for me to even out, so I was very happy to even out Aaron's sides and keep the top a little longer! Krystal has been big on the curly hair lately and looks gorgeous after a night on pink sponge rollers!

In other hairy news ... our Mazda is no longer.  It exploded (literally) after I drove out to girls camp and back to pick Marissa up for family pictures.  Thank heavens we still have grandma Miller's old Buick that seems to just keep holding on by a thread year after year.  And thank heavens for Jers and Plonns who are letting us use THEIR old Buick to get us through the Summer.  Hopefully, we'll be able to figure something out come fall.

Aaaaaaand - Aaron.  Our strep throat child.  He tested positive for strep throat with ZERO symptoms!  So bizarre.  He has been on continual antibiotics and will have his tonsils/adnoids taken out next week.  That should take care of the strep throat in our house, hopefully.

and just a little update for those interested:

ACTD is still waiting for its final contract with DCFS, but we are very optimistic that ACTD will have clients by the end of this month.  Pepsi sent the first $25,000, and Jeremy paid ACTD's rent for many months, and got a fax machine and fax line.  He and Ty are in the process of setting up a website, picking out letter-head paper, and planning luncheons for case workers.  I'm sure they've done/and are doing more, but that's all I can remember for now.  They are working hard!

So .... that's that!

Camp Jeremiah Johnson

Tyler was able to take the day off so he could join Aaron on this "Best Day EVER"!  Here they are bright and early at 6 AM to leave for the day:

Here is Pack 1507 Wolves and Bears:

They made their own rockets to fly:

Aaron's rocket needed some creative tweaking to get it to fly far, but -- it finally did!

Some strength games:

Aaron was massively defeated by Zach in this one:  :)

One of Aaron's favorite parts - the rafts!

What a good lookin' kid!

Ty and Aaron decided to break for lunch in the car where they could re.lax.  :)

Aaron's first time shooting a gun.  Amazingly, he hit the target 20 out of 20 times -- and 4 of those times were bulls-eyes!  WOW!

Shooting the bow and arrow was his absolute favorite.  He has good aim, this kid.  He hit a yellow bag 6 out of 6 tries, and one of the arrows sunk into the bag and stuck.

I am so grateful that Aaron had the opportunity to go to Camp Jeremiah Johnson. It'll FOR SURE be a day that he will always remember. It was one of his best days ever.

Skate Park

We just tried out the skate park over here by our house. All in all - it is a huge hit.  Aaron LOVES it, Marissa likes it, and Krystal really enjoys "sliding" down the hills on her behind ... no wheels at all.  :)

Aaron is hoping to improve his skateboarding skills.  It will certainly be a work in progress.  I am amazed at what some of the kids here can do.  I shoulda got a picture, but truly - my jaw was glued to the floor.  So, here is Aaron learning slowly but surely:

And Kryssie struttin' her stuff (she lasts on wheels for about 1 minute).

Aaaaaaand - Marissa struttin' HER stuff.  She had a major biff and got to sport this nasty bruise on her upper thigh/hip.  She was pretty sore, but luckily didn't break anything.  Not too sure if she'll go back to the skate park?  Oh.  She says she wants to go back ... granted, her bruise is nearly gone now (this happened in June).  No pain -- no gain, I guess.  ;)  We may have to strap pillows on their behinds next time.

Ouch.

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read All About It!

The ACTD made the paper today!

Front page even!

Pepsi has mailed the first check to ACTD, but we are still waiting for it to get here ... aaaany second!  Fingers crossed that the NEXT big news will be their first client.  :)  To read the whole article on-line click here.

June Storm

I think this storm happened in the middle of June.  Crazy Utah Summers.  Thank Heavens the weather is absolutely beautiful and Summer-y now for this 4th of July weekend.  Anywho - just something I haven't posted yet.  I'll try to finish up June this week.

Check out the size of this hail-piece!  They hurt!

Hope everyone is having a great 4th of July weekend!!

M Our Favorite

My kids A.DOR.E their Auntie M.  But, then again, who doesn't?

Just hangin' out and trying to catch a few zzzzzzzzz's: 

Yeah, that's gonna work!

WE Heart M!