Summer has been fun. We have been busy the last few months. My bother Aubrey and his family came out for a visit. We went to Temple Square and hicked Mount Timpanogoes. It is a mile and 1/2 up the mountain to get to the caves. the girls were troopers and didn't complain hardly at all. We got ice cream when we were done. I was glad we did this mid morning instead of afternoon. We would have never made it.

Grandmomma and Granddaddy Enslen came out for a visit. As you can tell the girls enjoyed time with their Grandmomma. Although I don't have any pictures of it John took a real liking to Grandaddy during this trip. They got to spend lots of time together. We were so glad to have them here for a week.

WE took advantage of our little pools on the really hot days.

John has to have a bath after almost every meal. As you can see from the pictures he enjoys wearing his food more than eating it. He also still loves finding places to climb into.

Jacob was nice enough to do the dishes for me but accidentally put dish soap instead of dishwasher soap in. We were very entertained when we came in and saw all the suds. WE all got a good laugh.

Alyssa just started the first grade today. She was very excited to have a few of her old friends in her new class. I think she will enjoy first grade. I am really sad she is gone all day. Adalyn is already bored, but will start preschool in September.

Work of Art-by Alyssa

Alyssa will be starting first grade this year. She has been writing words from what she thinks the sounds are. It is very cute to see how their little minds work. This is her most recent work of art. It is a short story-poem she wrote for me on Sunday while I was working.

cover page- My Pet

Inside-- What will my pet be

will it be

a cat

will it be

a dog

what

will

my

pet

be

last page--The end

Were you able to read her picture or did you have to read my translation?

Free Entertainment

The kids love to dance. It is not unusual to hear music coming from our house all through the day. I could sit and watch them dance for hours. Thought you might enjoy a sneak peak of what I get to see so often

John

John is exploring again. Two days ago I hosed off the patio really well. Today John was playing under the grill and knock over the can of oil, grease, "crud" that is hanging under the grill. Luckily it didn't get on him, but did cover the patio and I had to hose of the patio again only to find that oil, grease, and "crud" doesn't come off of concrete very well.
I also found him climbing up the monkey bar ladder. Luckily he can only figure out how to stand on the first step. I fear it wont be long before he figures out how to climb even higher. I am a little worried about broken bones in the future for that kids. Especially when I think back to his dad's track record.
His inside adventures include climbing on the stools that stay in the kitchen for the girls to help cook. He likes getting on them so he can reach the cabinet. He likes to play in the sink. This morning when the girls were helping make banana bread John had to climb up on the stool with them and then started fussing because he couldn't smash the bananas by himself.

July 4th blunder.

On July 6th we made strawberry freezer jam. For those of you who have never tried this it is to die for. It is also the easiest jam/jelly I have ever made.

The kids all pitched in and helped. Even John was trying to help as you can see in the background of Adalyn's picture

We went to a bar-b-que the afternoon of the forth. I kept feeling like my shoes where not level, but didn't bother to inspect them close. After playing on some big blow up balloons with the kids I come back to put my shoes on only to realize that I have two different shoes. Embarrasing, but really funny. I would not wear shoes again until Jacob went home and got me two matching shoes.

The kids had a blast playing and dancing to the music while we were waiting to watch "Horton Hears a Who" on the big blow up screen they had at the park.

As you can tell from this blog and the beach blog I am still trying to figure out this thing. I have pictures that I can't figure out how to move them and words that I can't figure out how to move. When all is said and done I hope you can figure out which picture goes with which writing. Enjoy reading.

July 4th

Favorite forth of July parade things.
Jacob--Star wars characters
Donna--Military Men
Ashley--Floats
Alyssa--Candy
Adalyn--Candy
John--Napping
Only in Utah will the Missionaries be in the Forth of July parade, and only in Utah will they get the same if not more of a standing ovation than any other part of the parade. It is great. I often wonder what the missionaries who are not from the United States think about this?

Bama Trip

This is at the end of our trip. We went and visited Grandma Great a few days before I left. This is Adalyn, Grandma Great, John and Alyssa.

Ashley went with Josh and Cole to go crawfish hunting. She wouldn't touch the crawfish, but she thought it was pretty cool. Jacob took the girls fishing one day while we were at Grandaddy's and Grandmomma's house. They liked this alot even though they didn't catch anything.



John is enjoying his new birthday present

It didn't take long for John to dive right in to this cake. We had a cake in Georgia on his birthday so he knew what to do when he say this one. He liked the icing.

We had a lot of fun with the pool party at Aunt Georgia's house. All of our family got to be there for John's birthday except for Jenny Sue and her family who had to stay in Louiville.

This is John at my Aunt Cathy's house in Georgia over memorial day weekend. He had a great time with this Tonka truck. the older boys pushed him all over the yard and he loved it.

All five kids back together. Aubrey, Donna, Billy, Christie, and Beth

Our Happy Family

All of Nanna's and Pop's Grandkids

Mom(Dianne), Uncle Don, Aunt Cathy, and Grandma Great. Of the four siblings only Uncle Rodney couldn't come.

John's one year birthday. He had a great time playing in his cake.

WE got to go to the beach while in bama. This is a treat we love. The kids loved the water and playing in the sand and the pool. We had a great time and I can't wait to be able to go back again.

Another beach picture

John and Alyssa enjoying the sand

John went right for the sand and was covered in minutes. He ate so much sand he was pooping sand the entire week. Kind of gross.

Grandma getting to see John for the first time.

This is at the Martin reunion. Not alot of people were able to come, but it was fun to see those who did. This is our family that was able to be there

I have finally got around to putting a new post on here. It took me a while to get my pictures on a cd. While we were in Alabama we had two family reunions, John turned one and we were able to spend a good bit of time with both of our families. It was great and I was sad to have to come back home. We have now been back for a little over a month and life is good. We have enjoyed the weather now that it is warm. When we came back the first of June the weather was in the 50's and 60's. Now I would love for it to be around there. We are pushing the 100's and can only enjoy the outside in the mornings. We have been able to swim at my neighbor's mother's house in Provo on Mondays. this has been good for the kids and me. It gets us out of the house for a day at least. We are enjoying the summer. We look forward to the adventures we will have the rest of the summer. Here are some pictures that I took at the beach.