The past week

2 boxes of peaches from the Western Slope are on my counter--about 50 lbs of sunkissed goodness

1st Middle school schedule pick up

4th Kindergarten parent info meeting

One wasp sting

3 walks with mom

2 with the neighbors' dog

Lunch out with middle school friends

One kid & parent date for fro-yo

10 intervals of 200 M

One delightful evening of perfect weather and our friends playing ultimate frisbee.

2 boys exclaiming, "You've got to do this more often!"

3 trips down rapelling

Once to the pool

2 more shopping trips for school supplies. Only one of them was completely maddening. I waited in line to return a notebook I had purchased as a mistake. I was looking for 3 subject notebooks, not one. When I got to the front of the long line I discovered I bought it at a different store. On a happier note, however, during the same trip, I picked up a $7 manual pencil sharpener. It is awesome and was the highlight of said maddening trip.
(We are done with the school supply lists---except for the "Prang" watercolors which are coming to Staples some day this week).

5 4 Color wheel garlands made (I still have to finish mine).

we went through 2 glue sticks . . . maybe I'm not done school supply shopping?

4 pairs of jeans at the Old Navy $10 sale. One $5 bathing suit for next summer.

30 minutes with the new piano teacher.

8 brackets removed and one big smile.

5 tennis lessons.

5 bags of weeds pulled.

One adult read a book for fun, "The Little Prince."  Please, someone, explain it to me. I don't get it.
 
19 patients have made it through the research protocol so far. WOOHOO! (Aiming for 50).

3 more Summer Bridge books complete = more $ owed to my kids.

One sewing project finished.

One day this week, when I was worn down, I thought about writing a list of all we had accomplished so far. I laughed out loud because it was so packed.
When the sales lady at Old Navy asked me if I was done with my school clothes shopping, I said, "I have 5 children so I don't feel like I'm ever really done."

Back to school week should be great!
 

"I feel American"

Nathan's reply when I asked him how he felt after grilling dinner.

We bought the grill used from Craigslist for a steal of a deal. About 1/4 to 1/3 what it would have cost brand new. They threw in the grill tools, too, adding to the value. BUT, it was filthy and Nathan spent a long time cleaning it and getting it ready to use.

We've wanted a grill for a long time but were waiting to buy a home first.
Which is to say:
We bought a home earlier this summer.
And now we have a grill, too. (Family members know this already, friends around the U.S. do not).

One of the really nice things about our home is that the previous owners installed natural gas lines to the patios--to be able to grill without propane tanks. We would not have spent extra $ to install it ourselves, but we are happy to use it.

Come eat at our house--we now have a grillmaster.

And his helpers

 

Swimmerick (a limerick about swimming)

I am going to swim
But I am slim
I'll have a ball
Unless I fall
I am going to swim.

(During the summer my children can earn $10 for completing the Summer Bridge that corresponds to their grade level. While checking books today, I found this poem and loved it.)

Blueberry season

I found a blueberry muffin recipe I love, here, in my favorite Test Kitchen Cookbook.
(36 muffins and only one stick of butter).
I like to sprinkle a little bit of this sugar on top before I bake them--a detail that's worth it.
I enjoy having company and I like cooking to feed them. We've enjoyed many delightful meals with family members in our home this summer. Despite my intentions, there were some meals I didn't get made in time. These are the blueberry muffins that came out of the oven about half an hour after my company left.
BOO!
Next time?
Our company have come and gone . . . . no more visitors from out of town until next month.
(When we have a priesthood ordination and baptism in the same weekend!!!) 

Colorado Cares Day

. . . was on July 28th when we were out of town.
We didn't want to miss it twice, so we asked if we could participate before or after by taking some of the quilts to tie.
We worked on the first tonight at Family Home Evening.

Most loved it.

Who's the photographer?

This one was not so sure.

Everyone participated anyway--even the littlest.

One down, three to go.
I let the girls stay up and we finished tying it. They all asked to do more.

(We met the coolest lady when we went to pick up the quilts. . . . she makes 150 quilts each year and has them tied at this event. A widow, very active elderly lady with a tidy home--made beautiful by the work of her own hands. She had just canned apricots and showed us the storage room in her home where she keeps all the quilts. If you know Nathan's grandma, Nana, she is just like her. Meeting her as a family made it all worthwhile).

Visitors from Vegas

Today we hosted Nathan's Aunt Adele and Uncle Victor.
Although we've seen each other few times since, the last time they visited our home was when we lived in married student housing at BYU . . . . . more than 11 years ago. The last time Nathan visited their home was during a professional conference.

They are retired and staying out of the Vegas summer heat visiting different parts of the country. Not far from here for the weekend, they called to see if we could get together.. We attended our ward together and brought them home for our traditional "just home from church meal" PANCAKES.

We talked about food storage, blogging, serving in a Spanish speaking ward, their recent travels, two new grand-babies, and much more. They invited us to their cabin and we found out Vic is 193 centimeters tall.

It was delightful to share a few moments with them. And that's what it felt like, because all too soon, they were gone. Thanks for coming out of your way to see us!

**** The High Park fire is out! (And we had a ton of rain this week).

Independence Day

Today:

One walk.
Two loads of laundry.
Three trips to the hardware store.
Four "Hungry, Hungry Hippos" (played heavily during the afternoon non-nap hours).
Five kids watched "Mary Poppins"
Six times I said to Nathan, "I can't believe how bad the smoke is today!"  *****
Seven happy mouths
Ate (8) our first homemade ice cream.

We wanted a quiet, stay at home and get work done kind of day--it was nice.

My mom gave us her ice cream maker, too. We are going to use it.

In TX, a neighbor gave us a loft bed he'd built. We love it and have used it ever since. The first modification was to add a ladder. Today's modification was to add a bunk at the bottom for another bed. It's not done yet, but it's a lot closer.

Every picture of Nathan was blurry . . . except when I asked him to stop moving. I can't keep up.

****The fires are not very close to us physically, (ie we are not in direct danger). The biggest change is the air quality. Most days are not too bad, we carry on as usual. Today was one of the worst I've seen. I didn't want my kids outside longer than they had to be, which isn't typical for this time of year. The smoke was strange . . . not too bad in the early morning, but changed during the 30 minutes we were in Lowe's. It is like the campfire you can't get away from--so smoky. You think things are OK, but sometimes when you are out driving you think to yourself, "Hmmm, I can't see the mountain today."

I've been praying for help for the firefighters, but perhaps I should pray for rain?


Dear Dad: I did wash all those dishes. They are back under control. For now.