Random June Photos

 Our date night ride up Emigration Canyon.  Hadn't done that for over a year so it was a bit of a sufferfest for those of us who haven't recently competed in an Ironman.  But glad I went and remembered how much I like riding my bike.

 Our poor fairies suffered another tragedy.  Last year it was serious flooding, this year a reckless driver took out a house and a couple of gnomes.  It was very sad for the entire community, but repairs have been made and all are expected to make a full recovery.  (Well, one of the gnomes did lose part of an ear in the accident, but considering that he had a car literally sitting on top of him, it could have been much worse.)

 Beautiful sunsets.

 More hiking.

 Samantha playing King of the Mountain at a YSA pool party.

 Definitely broke the record for number of people in the hottub.

 Cute girls in their birthday dresses from Grandma Cathy.

 Silly Peter.

 Poor, poor Peter.  Didn't seem fair to step on a needle so soon after having stitches.  Lots of tears, but all was well once I removed it.

 Big changes for Samantha.  her hair hasn't been this short in years.  (And she's not too happy about it.  It ended up being much shorter than she had asked for.)

Summer Fun

Summer is in full swing around here.  (Kind of has been since before school got out.) We have fully embraced the season, spending as much time as possible being outside and enjoying the long days.

We've done lots of porch sitting and made s'mores.

Played on the slip 'n slide.

Spent lots of time sitting or swinging in the hammock.

In Megan's case, she's been busy losing teeth.  One just before her 8th birthday,

And another one just after, with more being wiggly and loose.

We've made frequent trips to the surf shack for snowcones - sometimes by bike, sometimes by car.  The Stringham Family Peleton.

Samantha had to do most of the carrying and it we almost lost a couple, so

Shawn was inspired to make us a biek snowcone rack with 7 spots.  Carrying snow cones home shouldn't be a problem anymore.

Glitter face paints. (I was less than thrilled with this one.)

There's been a little rock climbing.

And a sure sign of summer, is that the karman ghia has been pulled out of storage.

And one minor car injury that began on a log up Millcreek Canyon and was finished by catching on something in the garage.  (And I can't even blame it on Jonas who has been busy every morning with driver's ed.)  Not to worry, Shawn fixed it up with a couple of zipties and things were good as new.

I seriously love summer.  It's going by way too fast.

It's Great to be 8!

I can't believe this girl is 8 years old!

Megan is a sweetheart, always helpful and kind, with a good attitude and usually a smile on her face.

She was excited to start her celebrating and open presents.

(Photobomb!)

After opening presents earlier in the day, we packed up our tent and sleeping bags, and drove to Manti to join the YSA ward at the Manti Pageant.  We, of course, also took the opportunity to stop and visit Homer and Phoebe.

Finding Mater there was a definite bonus for everyone, but especially Peter.

Duffy found Hyrum and Joseph Smith and all of the YSA's (and several other people in the crowd) sang her Happy Birthday.  I'm sure cake and ice cream would have been nice, but it wasn't a bad way to celebrate an 8th birthday!

Our First Track meet

So, we diverted from our usual summer plans of swim team at the Tennis Club, and decided to give Track a try.  I figured it's a nice short season, so why not?  And Megan and Amelia seemed to really enjoy it.  Unfortunately, track meets are a little like swim meets in that there is a whole lot of sitting around for only a few minutes of action.

(Shawn was on camera duty and took a LOT of photos, so feel free to skip ahead.)

They pack a lot of kids into these races:

Yep, we were having lots of fun in the stands.

Cute runners.

After the 50 and 100 yard dash (es), they did the long jump.

this one may have been a little more high than long, but oh well.

Too bad Amelia is blocking the view of Duffy here.

Amelia's relay team.

That's right, here is where Amelia catches the yellow team...

...and they take the lead.

Woo hoo!

Glad to finally be able to go home, though.