Hey aren't we all Seriously So Blessed?

You may or may not have already heard, but there is someone out there way cooler than all the rest of us...you just have to see for yourself. Thanks Dad.

http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/

One Shocking Night

Late last night at around midnight, Jeff pulled me out of bed to go outside with him. We sat on our back deck and watched a magnificent show of nature. I could not believe all the lightening! It was all around us going crazy! I grabbed my camera and took some video. Its just about 2 min, but kind of cool to see. It was way cooler in person though. To sit outside and see and feel the power of it all was really neat.

Boston's First Day of First Grade!

It was a dark and stormy day, and little Boston had grown so big and so smart he was now ready for the FIRST GRADE! Our short little summer has come to an end, but just for the next three weeks, until we are off track.



Boston was so excited for the big day-but the best part by far was his locker.

"I didn't know I got a locker?"


"Mom, which locker do you like the best? Do you like number 11 the best?"
After school he had to show Max all about how it works and what you do with it.

And yes, that is a koolaid mustache he is wearing. That dang stuff will not come off!


This is Boston's desk. He is in a class with only 16 kids-wow! And there are only 5 boys! We lucked out though, because one of them is our little neighbor Ben (in the background).


Mrs. Edwards and Boston

Family Campout continued at Cherry Hill

So after our big campout we went to Cherry Hill for the day. It was so much fun! We got there right when it opened so we could get a good spot. Thanks to Joel and McCall we did!





Andrew jumped on Matt's mat at the last second forcing them to go tandem. See Matt, it is more fun to go with a buddy.



Some of the crazy swimmers we ran into.

Now Taking Reservations...

For the last few years the family has gotten together for a 'campout' in Grandma's backyard. We wanted to do the same this year, especially because Andrew was home. I offered my yard this year, so here are a few of the fun camping activities that we did.



Playing with the parachute. Always a kid favorite!



Grandpa's new game 'Koob'. This is a really great game and lots of fun to play.



Some of the girls hanging out.



Here is the official camp fire. Shoot...we forgot to sing some campfire songs. Next year.
Oh boy though, that fire was HOT!



Boston holding as still as he could.



I really love this picture of McCall and Blake. Too bad we missed Joel-he was off playing doctor.



Tired girl!


Andrew and Blake waiting for the movie to start.


We set up a projector and watched National Treasure on the lawn. It was so fun and I think everyone enjoyed it.


The next morning. Everyone is still sleeping....Shhhh



Max slept the longest out of everybody.



Good Morning love birds!






The guys finished off the morning with a quick game of bball.

FABULOUS giveaway!

Now I really shouldn't tell you about this, because I want to win, but its my cute friend's new blog and I want you to check it out. Marla secretly told me that tomorrow, July 15, they are having a drawing for a FABULOUS giveaway- I don't know what it is, but knowing her its got to be great! All you have to do is comment and you are entered. Easy as pie, or too good to eat cupcakes. Go check out her new blog at http://www.overthetipsytopdesign.blogspot.com/.

Good luck to you all-kind of.

ANDREW'S HOME!!!!!

The long awaited day has finally arrived! My little brother has come home from his second tour in Iraq-hopefully his last. He has been gone since September with the 101st Airborn Division at Fort Campbell, KY. We have all missed him so much and are excited that he will be living the closest to us that he has within the last 10 years.
We had a big old party for him when he got home on Sunday. He left Iraq on July 4th and flew to Kentucky. He drove from there all the way home and we were ready for him when he got here. He drove in to confetti, flags, kids, posters and lots of happy family.

Grandma was soooo excited. Her baby finally came home.


This is my handsome 28 year old "little" brother-did I mention he's single?


Some of the grandkids saluting their uncle!

You're all invited to Sunday Dinner...IF YOU DARE!

Its been one week, so I think I've recovered enough to share this story. Last week I was so proud of myself. I had planned ahead and made a weekly menu and proceeded to make all the meals so I could freeze them and use them when I needed. I covered them all with cling wrap and labeled each one with cooking instructions like 350' for 1 hr written right on top. I then stacked them in the freezer.

After we got out of church at 2PM, we came home and I took out the frozen 9x13 casserole dish to thaw out a bit. It was going to be a delicious dinner. I had corn, mashed potatoes, rolls, and to top it off...thick pork chops in a cream sauce. So while it finished thawing out, I decided to take a nap (doesn't everybody?). An hour later I woke up and went to turn the oven on. Since it had to cook for an hour, I didn't wait for the Preheat buzzer to go off, I just threw in the dish and set the timer for a bit longer.

Well, it was smelling soooo good, and everybody was getting really hungry. I had the corn and mashed potatoes done and went to take out the pork chops. I pulled them out and my first thought was, 'this looks different than it has before. Maybe this one doesn't freeze well." So I set it down and finished getting things ready. As I went to serve it and reached for the first chop I noticed it was labeled with a "350'" right on top! I had left the cling wrap on while it cooked and it had melted all over the place.

I know myself well enough to know that I shouldn't do ANYTHING remotely important for at least 20 min after I wake up. Sheesh! What was I thinking!

So we had chicken and mashed potatoes.

Gone fishin'

So with their new fishing vests, we had to try them out! We went on a family fishing adventure to Jensen Pond to see how many fish we could catch.


Jeff is an above average fisherman, and its actually really fun to watch him. Its like he knows what the fish are thinking...weird.


Boston takes a more traditional approach to casting.

Max is a little more aggressive. Kind of a karate-indiana jones cast. Watch out if you happen to be around him.

But in the end there were no fish to be found. We'll keep working on that.

Junior Rangers

Grandma and Grandpa Painter brought the boys back fishing vest from their Yellowstone trip. The boys thought this was awesome! It was the best present ever! Thanks so much Grandma and Grandpa!

Summer Buzzin'

Another fun thing we did for the fourth, was to give the boys mohawks. They did not want to cut their hair at all, but we forced them too. And look how cute! As you can see they really liked them, and then wanted to keep them.

But it was not to be. I didn't want them to go to church that way, so off they came. But they like it this way too. They just go around rubbing their little heads. It must be for good luck!

Fireworks!

This year we had a little BBQ with some neighbors for the 4th. We ate, laughed, ate, played, and did the fireworks thing. Everybody brought some fireworks and one of our neighbors had the BIG ones, so it was quite a night.

One of the highlights was the parachute fireworks. Fifty kids running around trying to catch one. Yes, that's my kid in forefront.

Our neighbor puts on quite the show every fourth. Its almost as good as going to one of the city firework shows. This year we sat on our front lawn and watched these go off right above our head. It was great.

The kids were having a great time-the sparklers were the big hit. Next year I think we will just get all sparklers and let them go for a few hours.

Happy Birthday America!

We love CherryHill! Since my boys are getting bigger and being better swimmers, we have such a great time on all of their attractions. I think their favorite was the lazy river-me too! It was especially fun because Jeff was there with us. We usually go during the day without him, so it was definitely a special treat!