Wrapping up July

Just a few days early, but I have been going through my July pictures getting them ready to backup and I thought I'd post a couple. Because hey, I don't print my pictures so posting them here is just about all I ever do with them. Except maybe a couple that make it on a scrapbook page. But since I haven't been very diligent about that lately, it doesn't really count.

Tennis lessons are still going strong. And Jacey is still having a great time, so they will probably continue until the weather turns cold.

Marie and Jacey at our most recent field trip - Red Butte Gardens on the 24th of July. It was a free day and we were afraid that it would be (1) really crowded, and (2) really hot. We were right about it being hot, but it really wasn't too crowded. The kids had a fun time in the sprinklers, so that solved the "too hot" problem. For them.

I snuck up on this scene the other day. How ironic that they're reading that particular book in the middle of the disaster area they call their room.

Londyn let me take some pictures of her yesterday. Jacey refused. Typical.

If you can't tell, this was the last one for the day. Little puppy dog.

Speaking of Londyn, this morning I woke up to her hollering for me to come get her out of her crib. It went something like this: "Mooooom. Moooomy. Mooooom. Right now!"

Okay, maybe you had to be there.

Donny's dreamy

On Friday night Will and I went with Heather and Scott to see the Osmonds & MoTab at the Conference Center.  I have to admit that I really enjoyed it.  I found myself clapping along a little too enthusiastically at times. 

I have a feeling that, had I been born 15 years earlier, Donny Osmond posters just might have adorned my walls. 

The rumors are true

For those of you who grew up with me, you know exactly what this picture is of.  And chances are, you've probably heard the news surrounding it. 

My dad has accepted a transfer to the Salt Lake office of his company.  Their house sold last week, and they will be headed north at the end of August. 

I have been trying to persuade them to make this move for years.  So I am more than a little excited that it is finally happening.  I must confess, however, that when my mom sent me the link to the house listing and I clicked through the pictures, I got pretty emotional.  It will not be easy to say goodbye to my childhood home.  There is 20 years of history there.  My first kiss was on that front porch.  My best friend and I carved our initials in that tree in the front yard.  And I can't even count the number of times we've played games around the kitchen table with a bowl of M&Ms in the middle, laughing so hard Marie and Mom both ended up in tears. 

But I am so excited to have my folks closer, and I know that they are excited too.  And the good news is, memories can be taken with you.  And they can be created anywhere. 

Public Service Announcement

Do NOT leave a water bottle next to your nearly new laptop on the kitchen table, not matter how "almost empty" it seems.  Your 2-year-old will dump it all over your keyboard and then smear it around like finger paint.  And upon returning to the kitchen you will freak out, practically throwing your daughter across the room in an effort to get to said nearly new laptop with an armload of paper towels.  You will find water dripping out the side of the keyboard when you tip it sideways and this dripping will continue for at least 5 minutes.  You will text your husband while he is in the middle of a planning meeting which he flew to Houston for, panicking and cursing in your head (sorry mom).  You will sweat bullets for the next 48 hours, waiting for it to dry out, wondering how in the world you are going to find the money to replace it.  Because you will convince yourself that it is totally fried and gone forever, since it was on when the water got dumped and there was weird stuff going on as you shut it down in a panic.  You will curse the Acer engineers who so stupidly couldn't figure out a way to make computers waterproof.  You will bemoan all of the lost data and pictures you foolishly hadn't backed up.  And when you finally put it back together two days later and try to turn it on, you won't really be hoping for much because you will be so 100% sure that it is ruined.

But you will be wrong.

It will boot up, it will work completely normally, and you will thank your lucky stars and bless the names of Acer engineers everywhere. 

And you will never, ever, use your computer in the kitchen again.

The End.

Photos from Aberdeen

Will tickling Londyn in the backyard.  The first day we were there, my mom took Jacey out to the beach to play with the other kids, so Will and I hung out with Londyn just lounging and playing.  It was kind of fun since she doesn't get Mom & Dad to herself very often, especially together. 

More tickling.  Less color. 

This was pretty typical for the whole weekend.  Taking a bite of ice cream with a piece of candy in each hand.   We're doing really awesome with our healthy-eating plan.

Some Driscolls.  (This is the only picture of Marie I have ever taken where she doesn't look annoyed.  Probably because she was already laughing when I called her name.)

My Grandma, the CEO of the whole reunion.  If you've ever wondered where my mom got her blue eyes, now you know.

Thanks again for all of your hard work, Grandma & Grandpa.  We had a fun time!

An update for the sake of an update

I really don't have anything to write about, and we really haven't been doing anything exciting, but I feel all of this it's-been-too-long-since-I-posted pressure.

The girls have spent a bit of time in the glorified bath tub we call an inflatable kiddie pool. Although it can barely be called inflatable since the top ring has a hole in it, and as I'm looking out the back window at it, I'm wondering if the bottom ring does too. Well there's a waste of three bucks.

We had a good 4th of July with the Robins clan. Will had a 4-day weekend, which you will never hear me complain about. Although he has been off so much lately that on Tuesday morning, I kid you not, I heard him say "I'm ready to go back to work."

Will's uncle fixes a Dutch-oven breakfast at the park on the 4th, and it is divine. That is pretty much the only time I took my camera out all weekend.

Luckily, I had it out to catch this:

Glen was helping Londyn on the slide. I guess you have to get down somehow.

After the breakfast we spent most of the day at Glen & Liz's and the girls played in the kiddie pool. We went to see Hancock then had a BBQ and "Sidewalk of Fire". We all slept over and had a waffle breakfast in the morning then we pretty much puttered around for the rest of the day on Saturday. Will and I ended up going to Gardener Village and then we went to see Get Smart later that afternoon. So in one weekend we doubled the number of movies we've seen all year.

Will has been giving Jacey tennis lessons this week. I am embarrassed to say that she has now surpassed me in her tennis abilities. Will even said he is surprised at how well she is doing. She asks every morning if they can go play tennis tonight. I asked her yesterday why she wanted to go play so much and she said "So I can be as good as Daddy and Richard." Sounds plausible . . . but I'm pretty sure it also has something to do with these:

That's about all I can muster as far as an update. We're taking a super-quick trip up to Aberdeen for the Taylor Family Reunion on Friday, which is my Great-Grandma's descendants. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy Aberdeen? I don't know if it's the childhood memories, or if it's the small-town lifestyle, or if it's the perfect summer weather, or if maybe it's a combination of all three. But I love it there and we haven't been up there nearly enough these last few years. So I'm looking forward to the reunion. And the jell-o salads. What's a family reunion with out jell-o salads?