Notables in the first half of July

This fantastic human being turned 31! We celebrated at his house with a nice dinner and presents, I set up a "man-date" for him and his cousins to go frisbee golfing,and we also celebrated as our own little family. We made one of his favorite meals that includes both meat and dairy! Gasp! So, we usually save it for a special occasion. :) After our "fancy" dinner, we took the kids to Winco, and bought a bunch of food storage. Ha! We did it last year, and Richie loved it so much, we may just make it a tradition. He also got some less practical things to make his birthday more fun. We got him a good shade hat for when he's washing windows, a new Camelback so he can stay hydrated while he's out working, and his parents bought him a new suit! What a luxury! We sure love this guy. He is the most important person in my life.


A local bowling lane is offering free bowling for kids throughout the summer. Some of our homeschool friends joined us there one day and we played 2 games. I'm pretty sure it was a first for both Gwen and Lindy, and probably only the 2nd time Miles has ever been. They were lovin it! They'd roll the ball down the ramp and then just agonize over where it was going to hit. Usually they celebrated on their way back. Lindy's celebration was true to her character. Instead of hopping and cheering, she'd growl and pump her fists. It was hilarious.



My niece Izzy is in SLC for 6 weeks at a ballet camp. We got to have her at our house for part of a weekend. The kids were so excited! Gwen was so enamored by her cousin who is "on point!" This picture adequately shows her feelings the night Izzy had to leave.


I've been really proud of Gwen lately and her efforts toward her "job". She doesn't complain hardly at all anymore and just goes out and works. She usually brings home a couple of dollars and if she's lucky, a bag of aluminum cans. On this particular day, her can bag in the garage was busting at the seams. So Miles helped her crush the remaining cans, and then we took it to the recycling center. We cashed those babies in for nearly $4. (Which took about 3 months of collecting cans.) She was pretty happy with herself, and even shared a quarter for the candy machine with each of her siblings.