July happenings

Mary went to her first Real soccer game with her friend Ashley. Such darling girls! They had a great time together.

 Our girls with their Play-Doh creations on a hot summer afternoon.

 Luke is an avid reader. He loves to grab his pillow and blanket in his favorite spot on the couch and read for hours. 

Todd's second counselor in the bishopric recently moved out of our ward. We are so grateful for the Matthews family. We are so sad to see them go.

Todd's new counselor is Mike Parker. These are such good men. I am so grateful for their service with my husband.

Cow appreciation day at Chick-fil-A for breakfast (before we took Ben to school). 

Chick-fil-A for lunch with Grandpa that same day.

Sara's little friend from school came to play one day. It was so fun to listen to these girls giggle and watch them hold hands all the way to the pool.

Free Slurpee day!

One afternoon, I drove the boys to Snowbird where I enjoyed the cool mountain air while the boys did their mountain biking practice.

Todd took the older boys to mountain biking in Park City one Saturday. The younger kids played at a park.

Family bowling one Saturday afternoon.

Ben loves to have his window down while we drive. I love seeing that face in my side mirror.

I finally figured out my summer porch decorations. Now if I could just find a chair...

Playing with the Matthews- some of our favorite friends.

Sara loves to carry Liam even though he's 2 years old and can walk on his own.

These are four cute faces glued to video games on a hot summer afternoon.

A summer evening at the pool.

Watching the kids swim.

Nana playing at the park.

Mary used her babysitting money to buy a Kangaroo onesie for girls camp.

I finished the Book of Mormon again on July 18. On July 19, I started reading again from the beginning with a goal to finish the book one more time by the end of 2018. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon. I am grateful for the added strength I feel when I study it. It is a powerful book that increases my love for Jesus Christ and helps me in my quest to become a little better everyday.

4th of July 2018

We love celebrating the 4th of July.

We are so thankful for this great country!

We spent the morning walking the dog and riding bikes.

In the afternoon we visited Grandpa Orton just hours after he was released from the hospital following his back surgery. We had a BBQ and went swimming with cousins.

 In the evening, we played games at home until the fireworks started in front of our house. This was Nana's first 4th of July. We weren't sure if she would be frightened by the fireworks. Nana did great! She was a little nervous but she was also intrigued.

 Sara has never loved fireworks but she was brave because she didn't want Nana to be scared :)

The only thing that could've made this 4th of July better was if Todd could have been with us.

We miss you daddy!

We can't wait for you to come home from Poland!

Bowling

Todd is in Poland on a business trip this week.

Since we were missing our daddy, we decided to go out one evening.

I took the kids bowling and then to Cafe Rio for dinner.

I love spending time with these kids!