Summer 2008

What an exciting summer. We are now in let down mode after all the time spent with family. June began with Rebeka's adoption - finally. June 4 was the official day with Aunt Lori and Uncle Tom driving up for the special occasion. We celebrated with dinner at Armadillo Willy's, one of our favorite places.

Right after school got out, Nathan went to Zion's camp and had a good time. They kept them busy from dawn to dusk. Jaelyn left for Girl's camp the following week, barely surviving her two day back packing trip.

We left for family vacation on July 3, making an overnight pit stop in Las Vegas - welcome to the heat. We did enjoy a family swim and were amazed at being dry by the time we were back to our room. We drove through southern Utah to visit Dale's sister Lori. The most beautiful country is in south central Utah; we had no idea. It is truly worth the visit to see the canyons, mountains and high desert. We spent 5 days with Lori and Shawn. They took us on a cook out next to a beautiful creek which the kids loved. We were excited to be there for Destiny's baptism and to see a small town parade - lots of candy. We drove to Capital Reef National Park one day and where able to see the amazing canyons in various colors, pick apricots in Fruita, and see Indian hieroglyphs. We also spent a day driving around and playing in the water at Fish Lake and other creeks. Dale was able to do lots of hiking, many right from town.

Our next stop was with Sherry in Snowflake. We spent one night with them and enjoyed lots of games and Dale's grilling. The park was also fun for the little ones.

We drove down to the Valley of the Sun in time to get a day of rest before the big day. Saturday, July 12 Rebeka was sealed to us in the Arizona Temple. It was an extra special day because my niece was sealed Tim and JoyAnn right after our sealing. Don't ask how our was, because it was chaos with three preschoolers tired out from traveling. Rebeka did look beautiful in her white dress and now she is ours forever. We had lunch with the Miles family at Sandy's house that morning, it was great to see everyone and visit for a short time. After the sealing we joined the Harms and JoyAnn's family at a banquet room (Mexican food) for dinner and cake. We were much better behaved here.

Sunday we got caught in the biggest down pour I have seen in years- it was fabulous. I got soaked to the bone helping my mom to the car after church. We miss the monsoon storms! Tuesday, July 15 was another big day. This was the anniversary of my Grandmother Jaunita's death and we spent most of the day doing temple work. Jaelyn was baptised for her, by her Uncle Mark. Samantha was also able to do some baptisms for her family names. Shannon and I went back in the afternoon to do the preparatory work before our 7 pm session. She had a dozen or so close family names. Many of my family were together for the session with a sealing session afterwards. It was a beautiful day. Thanks Lori for taking good care of the children, even with a cold.

At last we spent a couple of days in Buckeye with Dale's parents. We had a great time playing games. The Buckeye pool was fun for everyone on family night. The little ones also enjoyed the slip and slide at Grandma's. She also treats us lots of yummy food and snacks! We headed for home on Friday night. I had one day to get some food in before Chuck and Shannon and family arrived on Sunday night. We had a great week playing lots and lots of games, visiting the beach, which was freezing and going to Vacaville to pick up my Mom and get ice cream at Fenton's. Chuck was also a very kind brother and did some home projects for me. Plus, with family up at our house, we blessed Rebeka on July 27. So now we are without family and missing everyone. We are thankful for the time together.