Summer Fun!

Summer is whizzing by so fast this year.  It is hard to believe that in a few weeks the kids will be back in school already.  Here are some of the fun things that have been keeping us busy.

I love my yard but it also seems like a huge never ending job that is impossible to keep up with.  It is great to have a teenage boy to mow the lawn though!  Skyler has become quite the "helper" in the garden.  He ate the strawberries as fast as I could pick them.  He also learned quickly how to break open the pea pods to get to the peas inside.  He did his share of picking my tomatoes before they turned ripe and the same with the peaches on the peach tree.

My new calling in the primary presidency (children's organization in our church) has kept me busy. Andrew loved helping me paint a giant twister board on the grass for our summer party.  I absolutely love working with the children in our ward.

Jared finally got to go on his first overnight scout camp with the 11 year old scouts.  He was much more excited than he looks in this picture.  He just likes to pull this grimace now every time I tell him to smile for a picture.  His first camp wasn't an easy one.  They went backpacking and had to carry all of their supplies in.  Jason went with him and they hiked up to Malan's basin just east of us in the mountains.  It was a tough steep hike but Jason said he didn't complain a bit and he had a great time.  Here he is at the top of Malan's peak overlooking the valley.

Jason's dad came to Lagoon with us.  It was a hot day and we cooled off at Lagoona Beach and on Rattle Snake Rapids.  Skyler loved riding the choo choo train. Kaitlyn and Andrew wanted to go on all the roller coasters.  They went on so many that Jason even finally sat out on a couple.

Jason's niece, Danielle came to visit from Louisiana.  We went to the zoo with her one day.  The kids were quite excited when a gorilla charged the glass at them.  Skyler wasn't as excited about the animals as I thought he would be although he really enjoyed the small animal and reptile building where he could see things up close.  I think what he liked the most, besides the train of course, were the animal statues.

We caught on to World Cup Fever this summer with the World Cup taking place in Brazil.  Andrew spent the first couple weeks of summer watching soccer games every day.  To be honest soccer isn't my favorite sport to watch but it was fun to see matches taking place in the cities we visited a couple years ago and of course we were all cheering for Brazil.  Jason was excited one day to find authentic Brazilian soccer jerseys in the US and had to bring them home for the boys one day.  We were all sad when Brazil lost (ok they got slaughtered by Germany) in the semifinals.

We have been watching the finishing touches being done to the Ogden Temple and are anxiously awaiting the open house next month and the dedication in September.  This was taken one afternoon when we took a trip to the Treehouse Museum only to find it closed due to a broken air conditioner.  We went miniature golfing at FatCats instead and came back to the Treehouse another day.

And last but not least my life has been taken over by cherries.  I've canned them, made syrup, jelly, cobbler, cheesecake topping and pie.  We've taken them to neighbors, and the kids sold them on the street corner and they still aren't gone.  I think we are going to get someone to cut the tree way back before next year.  I hate canning but I do love pie!