For Half of My Life

As of today, I have officially been married for as long as I've been single.

Crazy, isn't it.

Happy Anniversary, DEl......

Here's to many more!!

These Feet Were Made for Walking

Mathison is happiest when we are outdoors. His day runs much smoother if we plan some "outside" time, so we've been making many trips to the park.

I thought it would be fun to capture a visit to the park from a different angle - his feet. Keep in mind all of these shots were taken from just ONE visit. He sure is a busy little guy!

These feet were made for:walking

splashing

sliding

swinging

wading

climbing

balancing

stomping

dangling

exploring

and just relaxing!!


Side note: We won't even worry that by the end of our park adventure, Mathison had stripped down to only his hat and diaper :)

Legal Adult

As of yesterday, we now have three adults in our family.

Yes, Bronson turned 18!

For all of you young mothers out there - childhood really does pass faster than you think :(

And what are Bronson's plans now that he's an adult?

a)work at Iceberg and save money for school b)go to college, graduate, and get a good job c)move out of his parents' house as soon as he can afford it

Happy Birthday, Bronson....we love you!

I Haven't Forgotten!

Remember this kid?

No, I haven't forgotten about my third child.

Although some of you might make that assumption, as it's been quite some time since I've blogged about him.

Jefferson has kept himself busy this summer with work, play, scouts, play, theater, and play. He's at Thunder Ridge (a scout camp) all week, and we miss him already.

Especially me, as he's been a big help with his little brother!

One Great Father

As we celebrated Father's Day today, I felt so grateful to have a husband who is a wonderful father to his children. Not every child is so lucky.

I can honestly say that DEl deeply loves each one of our children and works hard to provide for their needs. He offers an excellent example of hard work and integrity for our kids, and truly wants them to be happy.

Today, I asked the family what their favorite thing to do with their father is. Krissia and Jefferson both said the same thing simultaneously:

"Shopping!"

I think it's because DEl ends up buying them something every time they accompany him to the store.

Maybe I should go shopping with him more often :)

Speechless

This pretty much sums up Krissia's Utah Summer Games experience this year:

4 Gold Medals
4 New Utah Summer Games Records Set
1 Incredible Swimmer!

Past My Prime?

As I'm nearing an important birthday in a few years (I won't mention which one), my husband has begun to tease me about the approaching hazards of middle age: aches and pains, slower metabolism, faulty memory, etc.

I haven't paid any attention to him.

That is, until yesterday.

I was in the middle of doing laundry and had just finished folding a batch of clothes. When I opened the washer to get the wet ones out, it was empty.

What??? I was completely mystified because I distinctly remembered starting the washer and pouring in a capful of detergent. I wandered into my bedroom, where I had been sorting the dirty laundry.....

And there it was. The STILL unwashed pile of clothes I thought I'd put in the washer, sitting on the floor in all its dirty glory. Apparently, I'd started the washer, put in the soap, let it run the full cycle, and FORGOT TO ADD THE CLOTHES.

Just don't tell my husband....he'd never let me live it down!!

Name Change

See this kid?

After last week, I've decided to change his name. Instead of "Mathison", I call him M.M. - or "Mischief Maker".

It was one of those weeks where he was into EVERYTHING, and it seemed like whatever he got into ended up all over the floor: a full water bottle, a box of cereal, a cup of ice, and a bottle of A1 steak sauce.

Trust me, it's been loads of fun.

On a different note, I have the winner of the "Name that photo" contest. Thanks to all of you who left a comment; I thought they were very clever. In order not to seem biased, I ran the entries by DEl without telling him who submitted them.

And the one he chose was.......

"Tongue Tied" submitted by Nicole.

Congratulations to the winner!

Trekkie

We've had a die hard trekkie at our house this week.

For those of you who automatically assumed I was speaking of "Star Trek", you're wrong.

I'm talking PIONEER trek.

Krissia spent the last three days with other youth in our stake participating in an 18 mile trek from New Harmony to Pinto. As a surprise for the youth, the stake contacted each family and asked them to be there to welcome their child "home" on the last 100 yards of their journey. Afterwards, the families ate a picnic together.

(if you follow the arrow, you can see Krissia)

Krissia was tired, sunburned, and just a LITTLE dirty but seemed to weather the trip well. We're happy to have her home!
Krissia with her "pa" and "ma"

A Real Lifesaver

The city of St. George recently had a new lifeguard added to its ranks:

Yes, Krissia passed her lifeguarding test this week!

We are so proud of her accomplishment, and can't think of another job better suited for our aquatic-minded girl.

Yay, Krissia!

Name this Photo!

I have this really cute picture of Mathison that's just begging to have a clever caption added to it:
Isn't it precious? However, I'm having a hard time coming up with a name, so I'm enlisting your help.

And to provoke greater reader participation, I'm making a contest out of it; whoever comes up with the winning name will get a cute homemade craft.

Enter as many times as you'd like, and the contest ends on Friday.

So....let the creative juices commence!

Splish Splash

I can't believe it's been nearly a week since my last post. It's not that I have nothing to post about; it's just that we've just been incredibly busy.

Summer is in full swing, and I'm not just talking about the absence of school. I'm talking about the presence of HEAT. We've been in the mid 90's every day for weeks, and even hit 100 before May ended.

How is a cold-blooded family used to Cedar City temperatures able to deal with this kind of unaccustomed heat? The only way we know how......in the water!

We now have a pool pass to the Washington Rec Center, and have been regular patrons the last 10 days. Here are some photos from an outing we took yesterday; the two older boys and DEl were unable to come, but many of you might recognize the third child in some of the pictures: