How much fun can you have at Wal-Mart?

What would you end up wearing in an emergency?

I decided that we should go through our family 72 hour kits and update them. I used to be very diligent about updating it every year. Anyway, It is a dang good thing we did because look what Tyler would have been stuck in:

(Thos are a size 6 underwear!)

The kids all tried on the clothes and we were dying laughing! So, we updated them and now we are ready to go.

Volleyball camp

Alayna had volleyball camp this week. I was worried that she might not love it since she didn’t see anyone she knew when we got there. But afterwards she came running out, very excited, and said “Can I go again sometime??” Apparently she didn’t know she was signed up for the camp for the week. Guess that was important info. It ended up being a wonderful experience for her and she made several friends.

School Supplies

I took the older 2 girls to do all their school supply shopping on Monday. I always hate remembering how much all those supplies cost. But we finally found both of them some great, new sturdy backpacks. Kayla’s’ is already almost bigger than her and it doesn’t even have the textbooks in yet! We REALLY need to get all textbooks computerized so kids can access them from home. Why hasn’t anyone done that yet? I took the older kids on Friday to do their shopping and I got stuff for my classroom. So, fingers crossed, I’m done with it! Know how I can tell Kayla is my daughter? She organized all the folders in our school supply closet by color! A girl after my own heart!

Summer swimming

Alayna started swimming lessons. Sitting there under the giant umbrella, watching her and reading my books, is definitely one of the best parts of summer! She is doing great and isn’t scared of the water anymore.

The training begins

The kids started joining me this week in training for a 5k (I've been working on it for about a year). One day, we walked a 5k around Linn Grove while Alayna played on the playground and Tyler played basketball with his friend Hunter. Tyler’s friend asked him if I was a “professional walker”. That made my day! We went down one day this week and practiced on the high school track and I was booking it. I have shave about 10 minutes off my time since last year in August!

We also went to play tennis several days this week. On one of the days it was already 80 degrees by 8:30am! It was hot, but as always, we had so much fun. We are hoping all this practice will have Tyler ready for when he starts on the school tennis team this month.

Redecorating

We also put up our new family pictures around the house. I’m pretty dang pleased with the results.

(Alayna actually designed the layout of the mantle)

How much fun can you have at Walmart?

Marisa and Kayla went with their friend Justine to see Karate Kid. Afterwards they spent some time at Wal-Mart and even bought a fish (which died the next day). I’ll share the pics they took. They also had a slumber party this weekend as well as a huge friend activity where they played water dodgeball and watched Pixar short films. I swear we hardly ever see them anymore!

(Marisas shirt says “I only date ninjas)

Our tomatoes runneth over

I just love this time of year! Well, we have tomatoes ripening like crazy. So, yesterday we made 7 jars of spaghetti sauce and our house smelled like heaven. We need to make salsa soon to use up the other 3 giant bowls of tomatoes. We also have a fantastic crop of onions!

I hope I NEVER know how it feels to lose a child

We have a family that was moving into our ward this week from Colorado. 3 days before they were supposed to leave, all the kids were in a bad accident and the older daughter (21 yr old) was killed. The other kids were in intensive care and have had to undergo several surgeries as well. As you can imagine, their family is devastated. It sounds like the younger 2 (16 and 13) will be in the hospital about a month. 3 men from their ward in Colorado volunteered and drove their 3 moving trucks all the way out here! I was incredibly impressed by that. Yesterday, our ward pulled together and unloaded all 3 trucks. Somehow, being one of the only women there, I was in charge of organizing where everything went. It took us 6 hours to get the trucks unloaded, and the kids and I organized and cleaned every bedroom, including setting up and making their beds. It was a wonderful service activity for our family and I truly hope I NEVER know what it feels like to lose a child. Ever.

You can see the article and the video clip here:

http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/99445799.html

The final countdown

Only 11 days til I go back to work and 17 until we start school. Help me!