9 things you should know...

(Yea! I found the cord to connect the camera to the computer!)

Joseph is COOL!

1. Joseph is smart He loves to read and is a great problem solver!

2. Joseph is funny! His jokes crack us all up and no one is better at making a baby or toddler laugh than Joseph.

3. Joseph loves to be outside. He is a fast runner, a great bike rider, and a super climber!

4. Joseph is a great singer! (See him as a famous musician in "Mice and Mozart" July 27-31)

5. Joseph is kind! To everyone!

6. Joseph is fearless! (Loves the rope swing, zip line, and dunking booth...)

7. Joseph is creative! He loves to draw, build, and make up stories and comic strips.

8. Joseph is optimistic and cheerful! He has a terrific attitude about life!

9. Joseph is 9! Happy Birthday Joseph! We LOVE you!

Make a wish...

Catching up...

No, I have not forgotten or completely abandoned this blog, I just haven't gotten to that point on the list lately! I thought things would slow down once school got out, but it seems busier than ever --- in lots of good ways! Backing up a little, here is a look at a few of the things that have been going on this month...

Memorial day trip to Cemeteries in Preston, Franklin, and Weston. We took flowers from our yard, great big purple irises! We met Grammie and Grandpa C there as well as Bud and Marie and Tracy and Steve Black and their darling family! It was fantastic!

Sarah participated in her school's science fair and won a beautiful Grand Prize Ribbon! Thanks to all those who helped by sampling her cookies made with different interesting flours.

Joseph's second grade class did a wonderful program with fun patriotic songs and square dancing!

Amy's 1st grade class also did a fun musical program all about summer... (picture missing... still looking...)

Janelle's orchestra performed at the end of the school year but Meagan was sick so Eric took the other kids and I missed it... :(

Spencer competed with a team in his school's Triathlon. They took second place!

Rebecca finished her soccer season. (She is #1 in red and white.) Her team made some great improvements and even scored several big goals this time! They are looking for a new coach for next year and in the mean time, Eric and a couple other parents are helping with summer practices.

Rebecca also played a Piano Solo in her school's talent show. She played "The Spinning Song" and did a great job! I will add the picture when I find it!?!

FIELDS TRIPS!!! Sarah and Joseph and Amy all had field trips on the same day! Amy went to the Nature Center and Tree House Museum in Ogden. Joseph went to Willow Park, Animal Education Center and Bowling in Logan. Sarah went to Hogle Zoo and the U of U Museum of Natural History. I went with Sarah's class since this is probably her last big field trip. Everyone had a terrific time!

Sarah graduated from McKinley Elementary school! Next year she will go to the Intermediate school with Rebecca!

BBQ at Hunters, complete with a pinata and CA. cousins-- Cheryl and family.


We also had a fun BBQ at Enid's house and made some plans for our teams "Relay for Life" for the American Cancer society. It will be July 10-11 at USU.

Graduation party for Craig (MBA from USU!!!). We had a great time in their beautiful backyard with darling Ashlyn! (Sorry, no pictures of the Honoree!)

A.P.T. Camp for Spencer and Eric started the day that school got out! They got to go camping, hiking, shooting, kayaking... They had a great time!

While they were gone, the other kids and I helped host a Summer Reading Kick-off Party at our Local Library. We had food, games, crafts, story-telling, tours, and FREE BOOKS! This was the 1st time we had tried something like this and weren't sure if any one would come... But they did! We had 100s of families there and more than 350 children signed up for the summer reading program! (No pictures-- Sorry, we were too busy to even think about the camera in the diaper bag!)

A few days later, the Olsens came to Utah!!! Celestia had an eye apt. in SLC (Her eyes look perfect and BEAUTIFUL!) and we got to enjoy their family for a few days! There is nothing quite like cousin time! We want more!







Summer was zooming along and we found ourselves with a free day... (No piano, play practice, soccer practice, cub scouts, YMYW, work, meetings, internship, etc) We loaded up the van and headed to Antelope Island. We hiked, rock climbed, picnicked, played on the beach and in the water. It was beautiful and we had a fantastic time except for swarms of biting gnats that attacked us... Still, it was a wonderful family outing!





The next day we were treated to a visit from our WA. cousins!!! We had a great time with Aaron and Amy and their fun kids! We enjoyed the time with them so much! We even took a little trip to Hill Air Force Base Museum where we met Brianna and Nick and Bethany and Stetsen. We all loved seeing all the amazing airplanes and trying out the flight simulators and games.




Yesterday we set up a Lemonade Stand across from the park near out house. There were lots of little baseball games going on and we earned almost $25 for the American Cancer Society.


On a VERY SAD note, we said good-bye to the three gigantic trees in our backyard. They had gotten too big and were causing problems (Or threatening to cause problems) for the apartments behind our house. We all cried. Now we are re- designing our yard and looking for new trees and a hedge to plant. Any suggestions?

Well--- that is a bit of what has been happening here... We hope you are having a terrific summer! It just flies by and now June is almost over! I will try to keep up a little better, but please forgive me if I get caught up in life... You all know how it is!

SUMMER IS TOTALLY ALMOST HERE!!!

we are all very excited for summer. here is a list of some fun things we are planning to do. let us know if you have any more ideas

1. Summer pirate play- Spencer, Rebecca, Sarah, and Joseh


2. movie marathon, any suggestions?


3. bike the bear (Spencer)


4. play all the board games in our closet in one day!


5. build a castle


6. buy a dog. sshh dad doesn't know


7. soccer games galore!


8. hiking in logan canyon, old ephraim, the wind caves, any other ideas


9. read a lot of good books, any ideas of good one?


10. swimming


11. willard bay


12. camping


13. backyard camping


14. cross country workouts- Janelle and Spencer


15. cross country camp- Janelle and Spencer


16. YW camp- Janelle and Rebecca


17. YM camp- first day of summer, spencer is off to camp


18. relay for life- ( it is a 25 hour walking relay to raise money for the cure of cancer, if you would like to donate anything let us know :) )


19. EFY - Janelle


20. woodworking


21. carpentry internship- Janelle


22. Trip to Australia, I wish!


23. water fights


24. fireworks


25. who knows what .....

Back Yard Treasures!

We have been enjoying the

simple pleasures

in our own back yard...

Watching birds, climbing trees, planting a garden, picking dandy-lions, swinging and jumping, playing soccer...

Hope you are enjoying the beauty of each new day!

Favorite Books...

Our sweet and amazing sister, Laura Bingham has written and published her first novel, Alvor! The sequel is already in the works! I'm not at all surprised that she has the talent to do it, but, don't ask me how she found time! She is the busy mother of 5 and has her own business and dance studio where she teaches clogging etc.. I haven't read the book yet, but it looks fantastic and has great reviews! I'm sure it will be added to the list of our favorites! If you are interested , it can be purchased through Amazon.com. I don't know how to post a link or picture of the book (I'm still pretty much computer illiterate!), but check it out!

Here are a few more of our favorite books right now...

We all LOVED the Olsen's version of "The BOX"! We can't wait to find a copy to add to our library --- and a good box to play in!

Meagan LOVES "Good Night Moon". We read it at least 10 times a day... She really loves all books and has since she was tiny, but just recently she has started to love the STORIES! Not just the pointing at the pictures and turning the pages!

Amy loves books about fairies and princesses! She has read almost all of the "Rainbow Magic Fairies" series and lots of other...

Joseph loves mysteries! He reads the "A to Z Mystery" books, "Cam Jansen", "Geronimo Stilton", and he is currently enjoying "Indian in the Cupboard"!

Sarah really likes books by Andrew Clements and has read lots of them and lots of others...

One of Rebecca's favorites is "The Anybodies" by N. E. Body. She also just finished "A Wrinkle in Time" for a book report and really liked it.

Spencer just read "Apollo 13". He liked it... Pretty technical, but a good book! One of his favorites is "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card.

Janelle has just read "A Raisin in the Sun" for her English class. It is NOT her favorite. She liked the Twilight series, but she is not an addict like some girls her age. She loves to escape with a good suspenseful romantic comedy!

One of Eric's all time favorites is "The Veil of Snows" by Mark Helpring. He has been reading "The Tale of Despereaux" to the kids and he just discovered "Skippy jon Jones"... a new family favorite, especially if Dad will read!

I can't pick favorites! I'm sure "Alvor" will be up there once my copy gets here! Janelle just gave me "The Truth about Forever" for Mother's Day and I look forward to reading it. To tell the truth, I mostly just read to and with my kids. But I love that and I am so glad that the all LOVE to read! What a gift!

I would love to hear what some of your favorites are! Happy Reading!

Zoom Zoom!

Joseph designed and build his 1st pine-wood derby car this week (with a little help from Dad)! It is a Super Shark Car! Very cool! We all went to the Pack Meeting last night and watched lots and lots of races! Joseph's car was the 2nd fastest overall and he took 1st place for the Wolves and Bears! Everyone had a great time and all of the boys won a ribbon and candybar.

Seven is Heaven!!!

When I first found out we were going to have baby # 9, Heavenly Father spoke to my heart and told me that she was a very special baby coming to our family for a very special reason... No doubt about that! Having Amy Melissa in our family has made every day better! She is so completely and unconditionally loving! She is such a joy and a blessing!

Can you believe Amy is 7 YEARS OLD!!! She just celebrated her birthday on May 3rd. I have no idea how seven years could have flown by so quickly! She is getting so grown up! The last couple years have been so much fun that I tried to convince her to sleep up-side-down so she could go back from six to five ( I've heard that works...) instead of up to seven, but she wouldn't go for it... So she is really, truly, officially a seven year old --- big toothless grin and all!

(What a delightful age!!!)

Because her birthday was on Fast Sunday, we started partying in Saturday with birthday muffins for breakfast and a family party at the local bowling alley...

(Sorry-- No cool Music Video like the Olsen's.) None of us are great bowlers, but we had a great time!

Sunday was even better... After church, Grammie and Grandpa C. and Heather and Garrick joined us for a super fun birthday party and dinner. Amy is so loved!!!

Honestly, I wish my kids wouldn't grow up quite so fast, but I love every new stage and development, from toddler, to teen-ager, to adult...