My Hiatus

Sooooo...... it's been awhile, huh?

I've known I've been neglecting my blog, but what can I say? I just haven't really been much in the blogging mood. Not that there is anything bad going on. Nope, all good around here. Everyone is happy and healthy. But we've also been crazy busy, and when I finally get a moment, I just don't seem to be in the mood and would rather read or something.

We are out of school for the summer, and have been for about three weeks or so.

My brother-in-law graduated from high school last month. That seems really weird. He was Ethan's age when Corey and I started dating! It was kind of neat and nostalgic going back to my alma mater to be at his graduation. There were not many teachers there that I recognized. At one point, everyone who had graduated from Roy High was asked to stand. It was really neat to see at least half the audience standing!

Five days later, my little boy, Ethan graduated from preschool. I can hardly believe he will go to kindergarten next year! It doesn't seem that long since I had him. He was such a sweet baby. He came at a time when our families from both sides as well as myself were in serious need of something that symbolized hope and joy. What symbolizes such things better than a baby fresh from Heaven?

We had a nephew from Corey's side of the family and my grandfather both pass away during that pregnancy, as well as a nephew from my side of the family diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. When I first got pregnant, I remember being angry! I was on birth control, and wasn't feeling quite ready for another baby. But it goes to show that Heavenly Father knows what He is doing. My family and I really needed this baby to help us get through the tough times and the grieving period. I think it's only fitting that he was born on my grandfather's birthday. He has been such a comfort to me. He loves to make people laugh, and loves for everyone to be happy. He always seems to know just what to do to help people feel better, has a deep compassion for people as a whole, and he gives the best hugs! I'm going to miss my little guy while he is in school all day. But I look forward to seeing what his future will bring.

Here he is with his certificate and his teacher, Mrs. Clark

We have had some wet weather so far this summer. It's been rainy and cool. I'm not complaining, though. I have enjoyed the cooler weather, and know that it will be really hot all too soon. It's been warm enough that we haven't needed the heater on, but cool enough that we haven't needed the swamp cooler either. It's been comfortable. I also haven't had to water at all! Watering the yard for me means dragging hoses all over all day, since we don't have an in ground sprinkling system (someday!). I hate doing it! So, I appreciate all the rain. It's also given us the opportunity to do some things that we might not otherwise do if the weather was sunny and warmer. We have gone bowling a few times, we've been to the library quite a bit, we've been to the playground at the mall. We've also done a lot of reading! One day, we stayed in our pjs all day and snuggled together with a blanket, a few pillows, some snacks and a big pile of books! It was our own little read-a-thon! The boys are both working on the Summer Bridge workbooks for their grade level this summer, as well as doing a few different summer reading programs. We have a deal that if Ethan completes at least 15 lessons out of the workbook and reads at least 20 minutes at least 15 times, he gets a trip to the Treehouse Museum. Johnathan has chosen a trip to the zoo. They have almost been earned!

Johnathan's baseball season is now over. They played in their tournament last Friday. Johnny's team, the D-Backs, won the first game, which meant they got to play for the championship. They played against The A's. It was a tough, close, and fun game. And when I say fun, you know it's serious, because I don't particularly like to watch baseball games. They are rookie leaguers playing coach pitch, so they play three to four innings, depending on how long the innings take. The first inning they tied with the A's 6-6, and the second inning they tied 9-9. Our team finally won 13-10! It was a very exciting game! The tournament was part of the Terrace Days celebration, so he got to ride in the parade the next morning. The parade was very cool, and it was raining by the time we got down the carnival. If Johnny hadn't been in the parade, we wouldn't have gone, but that's all the kids on his team talked about while they were riding in the parade, so of course, he wanted to go. They had a bunch of bounce houses that were free, so we went and played until Libby started getting cold and tired, and then came home to dry clothes, a blanket, and a movie.

Today, Johnathan went off to Cub Scout Day Camp. Corey went with them too. They went to Camp Fife, for the day and had a great time. They had to meet at the church this morning at 6:45! Needless to say, it was an early morning at this house! At least he got breakfast at the church before they left. They shot BB guns, rode the zip line, listened to some history on Isaac Newton (which is cool because we have good reason to think he is an ancestor of mine, or at least a cousin of an ancestor -- lots of Isaac Newtons back there around the right time period), and got to listen to some info and see some cool pictures of airplanes. He also made it about halfway up a rock climbing wall! He had a fun, but long day. I haven't seen my boy so tired very often.

Tomorrow we leave for Pineview for the weekend. The weather doesn't sound very promising, and for the first time, I am complaining. Camping in thunderstorms is no fun! I hope it stays away until we get back Saturday afternoon. It can come back after that.