White Beaches, Sunny Days & Great Food!

Ah! Vacation! There are too many pictures to post so I will try to create a slide show of the highlights to accompany this post. We just got back from 11 days in Clearwater, Florida. Our days mostly consisted of LOTS of swimming (beach & pool), treated to a nice lunch at various fancy restaurants by Grandmom Wellborn (the kids "Great" Grandmom), then more swimming/beaching and finally gourmet meals at Grandma & Grandpa Dieckmans' at night. Everything homemade & delicious (crabcakes, coleslaw, lasagna rollups, chocolate mousse pie, canolis were some of the highlights). We also checked out the Clearwater Marine Aquarium where the kids could see stingrays, dolphins, sea turtles & river otters up close. Our favorites memories were skimboarding, hunting for shells along the beach, & boogie boarding. Weather was perfect the whole time (hot & sunny with a nice sea breeze) Jim & I came back with extra pounds & everyone came back tan. A great time for everyone!

Jim earns "Purple Belt"!

Moving up belts in Pedro Sauer Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is very difficult and a VERY big deal. There are not many belts awarded in this martial art (white, blue, purple, brown, black) There are very few black belts in the world- usually only instructors. So for Jim to advance to Purple belt was a great accomplishment. He has worked hard on this for years! Congrats Jim!

No More Pencils, No More Books, No More Teachers' Dirty Looks!

School's out for summer! I'm almost as excited as the kids. I love the lazy days of summer! Toby & Arielle both decided to color their hair red the last day. Or as they like to call it "the last hours" of school, since they only had to go for 2.5 hrs. on the last day. Arielle had an adorable 2nd grade talent show where she played Daisy Bell on the piano. This was her first time performing ever, she did great! She usually gets nervous if she has to talk in front of people, but on the piano she seemed more confident. Toby's class celebrated the end of the year with a 4th & 5th grade softball game against "THE TEACHERS". It was cute to watch. They also ran around and tried to get as many signatures as they could on their Bloomington Hills Bobcats Yearbooks. Ok, the title of this post doesn't really apply to Toby & Arielle's teachers this year. Both kids had great teachers who will be missed. Toby had Mr. Rollins and Arielle had Natalie Shirley. Natalie has been a friend of ours for years and actually used to babysit Arielle when Arielle was a baby & Natalie was only 13. It has been fun to see "Nat" grow up into a FANTASTIC teacher! She is so well organized and so kind. Arielle had a great year, wish we could take Mrs. Shirley with us to 3rd grade! Well, now its time for R & R, days at the pools, running around the neighborhood with friends, lemonade stands (they make bank selling to golfers since we live on a golf course), and trip to Florida to see Grandma & Grandpa Dieckman!

A True Friend Believes You're a Good Egg Even Though She Knows You're Slightly Cracked

Come hell or highwater, I was going to make it to Park City to be with "My Girls"! As if living 5 hrs away wasn't difficult enough- poor Toby came down with the flu the day I was leaving and Arielle's gymnastic performance was running 2 hrs. late. SO- I was very late, but I made it!! Meg, Sheaner, Debra, Kim & I had SUCH a fantastic time going out to eat, playing cards, exchanging gifts and just talking 'til all hours of the night (like 4am!) It truly felt like dorm days again. I met this wonderful bunch my first year at BYU and we are just as close now as we were then. Yeah, we're all slightly cracked and its wonderful. Love you girls!

Arielle's Gymnastic "Summer Games"

Arielle did a fantastic job at her Summer Gymnastic performance! She had been working hard learning a floor, bars, beam and vault routine for 4 months. She shined at her performance and got 10's in all categories, even a 10+ on the bars! It was fun to watch her, she has gotten so good at gymnastics. She was awarded a cool t-shirt, medal and 2 ribbons. Now she's ready to move up to level 4. We are so proud of her!

Michelle Tagged Me!

1. What is his name? Teddy... oh- you mean my significant other or my dog? I guess the proper answer is JIM
2. Who eats more? Me, absolutely
3. Who said I love you first? He said "Olive Juice", I'm counting it
4. Who is taller? He is
5. Who is smarter? He is
6. Who is more sensitive? We are both sensitive in different ways. I would say him, he would say me
7. Who does the laundry? He is very good about helping with that, its almost 50/50 these days
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Jim
9. Who pays the bills? Me
10. Who cooks more? Neither, and that's a problem- too much dining out and fast food
11. What meals do you cook together? Ok, on the rare occasion- we make a good grilling team. I prep, he cooks. We can throw together a quick BBQ
12. Who is more stubborn? Me
13. Who is first to admit they are wrong? Him
14. Who is more clean? Hygene or house? hee hee.. He has a keener eye for messes than I do
15. Who has more siblings? I do. I have 2 sisters & 1 brother. He is an only child.
16. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I'd like to say him, but it just isn't so...
17. What do you like to do together? Everything
18. Who eats more sweets? ME
19. Guilty pleasures? Going out to eat, CA vacations, watching The Office together almost every night or other comedies. We LOVE to laugh together
20. How did you meet? Introduced by friends at the beach
21. Who kissed who first? Jim kissed me first (finally!)
22. Who proposed? He did (with some arm twisting, bit of a commitment fear going on)
23. His best feature? His body (am I allowed to say that?)
24. What is his greatest quality? Can I say 2? Kindness & Sense of Humor

I'm tagging Sara, Desi & Meg!

Field Trips

I feel so lucky to be able to go on Toby & Arielle's field trips. As the mortgage market slows down and I contemplate getting a new job, I realize how privileged I've been to work from home while the kids are young and make it to all the field trips and other special events. Toby's 5th grade just went on a hike to Snow Canyon to "Three Ponds" last week. It was 7 miles round trip in the sand! Quite a workout. Beautiful blue sky and red rock scenery and perfect weather. This past week Arielle's 2nd grade class went to Washington City to do a historic tour of old machinery, farm animals and learn about the history of cotton and vegetable farming in Southern Utah. It was interesting and I gained a new appreciation for how hard working the people were who founded Southern Utah.