1st Day of School (boo hoo)

Unfortunately our summer officially ended today. Though Steve and I have been at work for the last two weeks, the kids began today. For the first time they are all in different schools!

Tabby ready for her first day in 5th grade with Daddy!

Our big middle schooler! First day at TMS.

Kel ready for her Junior year at Great Oak.

Tabby was so excited she had her clothes, backpack and shoes set out the night before. This girl LOVES school!

Happy Birthday Kelsey!

Kelsey celebrated her 17th birthday this month. Boy does time fly! She had her friends Joe and Ty over to watch a movie and swim (to be joined by Jake and Tabby). We had a bland birthday dinner (my alfredo sauce didn't quite have enough flavor) and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Now it's on to driver's ed...

Chess Anyone?

Steve's brother Mark is a master craftsman. It is really amazing. He did our kitchen countertops for us last year out of concrete! They are gorgeous, if I do say so myself :) When we saw him in Park City he brought us a chess table made from concrete and stained brown.

Isn't it beautiful? Each space on the board was made from a different color concrete as well.

Steve ordered some nice pieces for it, which came today. He and Jake promptly broke in the table with a game.

Fun in Park City

We headed to Park City to celebrate David and Sandra's 50th wedding anniversary. Renita and Terry were so kind to host all 27 of us. This was the first time in about 3 years that we had all been together, and what an occasion to celebrate!

No trip with Mark is complete without a campout! We met at the cabin and headed to Rockport State Park to camp for the night. Christian joined us as well. We had a great time hanging out, having smores, and shooting the prairie dogs (don't worry, we missed).

{Cousins roasting weanies around the fire}

{No campout is complete without Jiffy Pop!}

{Steve, his siblings, and parents}

{Group Photo Op at the historical barn}

{Jake, Tab, Kel, Cassandra, and Abby headed to Park City Mountain Resort to ride the Alpine Slide}

{All the girls headed to the local bead shop to make bracelets and necklaces}

{Jess and Tab}

{We had a great time playing with Grace, the youngest of the bunch}

{No visit is complete without a trip to Java Cow}

{The Celebration}

80's Party!

Kel was ready to put her dancing shoes on and flash back to the 80's tonight. Her friend was having and 80's themed birthday party. Good thing some of the fashions are back or we would have been in trouble finding something to wear! Armed with a small barrel curling iron and heavy duty hairspray we were ready.

Kel put on her skinny jeans, fluorescent pink animal print top, multiple belts, and pumps. She had the attitude to carry it off. We didn't forget the blue eyeshadow of course :)

I was loving the curled and teased hair. Usually her hair is just straight. It was great to primp her up! We ended up with a rocker-esque look which suits her well.

Lake Arrowhead

The first week of July welcomed us with many adventures. Jake had the most unusual experiences. Last Sunday he played in the pool all day with his friends. That evening at Sunday Supper he had a headache and was tired. That was just the beginning. Over the next 4 days he experienced: bad sore throat, fever, vomiting, pink eye, a cold, and to top it off, 4 bloody noses in less than 20 hours. He has never had a bloody nose. We were introduced full force. I have never seen so much blood. The upstairs looked like a crime scene - no joking. We ended up making a trip to the doctor at 2:30am because of the severity. One of the nose bleeds took an hour to stop! It all ended on Friday. He was so sick of being sick! (So were we). On Saturday we were off to Lake Arrowhead with Gus and Karen.

Enjoying time with their 9 month old Chester.

Steve's new best friend.

Went fishing. Kel caught the only one.

and waterskied

DEMOLITION BABY!

Our built in grill had become, essentially, a rat hotel. YUCK! (Molly loved it, the more for her to chase and catch the better). I had had enough and Steve agreed: The grill and bunker must GO. We borrowed Mike's sledgehammer (we don't own anything remotely like it ) and had at it on Monday morning. We started with the top.

That came off fairly easily. Then we moved onto the tough stuff. About every other hole in the cinder block was filled with rebar and concrete. When Steve and his dad put this in, they made sure it wouldn't fall down! After two days of banging away we were finally successful in removing the entire thing! Molly checked it all out for any remaining live rats. The kids and I loaded my van full of rubble 3 times. We are a bit scratched, but no major injuries.

All we have left to do in pour a thin layer of concrete to even it out. I am very happy with what we did. There wasn't any damage to the house or the existing concrete. Now when I look out my kitchen or sliding window I can see the pool and the rest of the yard instead of the rat hotel!