Make New Friends, But Keep The Old

I haven't blogged in a while just because it seemed like just a bunch of different, unrelated things happening. Then I looked at our pictures and realized it was all stuff we've been doing with our friends!
All besides this event :) Miles plays favorites (me being the favorite) and so to make dad even cooler, he took the kids camping in the backyard. Originally it was only supposed to be Miles, but Gwen didn't want to be left out. :) We roasted Marshmallows and then they got to watch a movie on the lap top inside the tent, all snuggled in their sleeping bags. I stayed inside and cleaned until it was late, and right about the time I was finally getting ready to turn in, they all came in, very sleepily. I gave Richie an "A" for effort.

One really fun thing about being in the SLC valley is that a lot of people from high school have settled here. A week or so ago we got together with 2 of my favorite high school friends (Peter Anderson and Laura Wintch), and their families for dinner. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the adults, but I only managed a picture of 4 of the 5 kids. Miles was slightly obsessed with Peter and Madeline's girl named Ella. He kept calling her "princess" and "Nella" and still talks about her. We had such a blast, I wish we would have done it sooner!

Some of our best Idaho friends, the Wilsons, are transitioning to Washington and made SLC a part of their road trip. So we met at temple square and made a morning of it. Every time I go to temple square, I'm amazed at the grounds. They are immaculate! I can't imagine how much money goes into making them so pristine. We took them to the Children's museum while we were so close and the kids had a blast. We tried to get a cute picture of all 4 kids together, but it just wasn't happening. Here are some attempts.

Reconnecting with old friends is a favorite thing of mine. It's almost as much fun as making new friends! We had a fellow seminary teacher at Murray, and his family over for dinner the other night. They also have a son named Miles, only he is 9 years old. Miles can't stop talking about "Miles Miller" now. :) We met them, and other staff members, at a Murray soccer game last night and enjoyed a home team victory. There was a park nearby, so the kids and I saw about 2 minutes of the game and spent the rest of the time at the playground. 2 of the Miller kids came to play, including their girl who is about 6 and just was the cutest little Mother to Gwen. She made sure she got up all the ladders, down all the slides, and protected her from some annoying 10ish year old kids playing ball tag on the equipment and running amok. That's right, amok. I won't sugar coat it for you, the mama bear did come out a few times. The millers also have a little boy Gwen's age and he and Miles got along great.