Life is Speeding By. . . . .

It's my favorite month. . . .JULY. . .and you all know what happens in July . . . .the world speeds up to morph speed and we disappear for at least a month.  But THIS July, although I am expecting a baby, I will REMAIN (and become increasingly) large-of-girth throughout the month.  This does not mean that we will be slowing down, unfortunately.  Just that my leaden feet may be elevated more than they were last July.  We have had a VERY busy past few months, and I don't even know where to begin in summary.  This post may be boring to some (or many) of you, but I wanted to record it for me, so here it is regardless.

Elias is THIS big!!!! 2 years old

In April we celebrated Elias' 2nd Birthday in style!  While Aaron was in Salt Lake taking his grueling P.E. (Professional Engineer) Exam, the boys and I played at Kennecott Copper Mine (thanks for the idea, Jared), the Temple Square Church History Museum (I could BARELY pull Elias away from the fire truck), 

and visited the newly opened City Creek "Mall" fountain (thanks for that idea too, Jared, and for coming to help with boy crowd control :-) , and then the ultrasound studio.  We had dinner and cupcakes with Auntie Deborah and her sweet roommate provided a birthday gift for the boy.  It was a long day, but very rewarding. 

Samuel's 1st Sammy-Made-Banana-Split

We found out in the beginning of June that Aaron PASSED his P.E. exam.  We are all so proud of him, and SO relieved :-) He is such a dedicated father and husband, and I'm glad his hard work and efforts were (and are) rewarded.  We threw him a  "P.E. Party".  The boys really got into it. . .they've been to far too many Dayton-Style wedding receptions, and had a "Sign-in Sheet" (complete with holders for the markers, which unfortunately were Sharpies. . .and that's another story), and name tags where everyone had to come up with words to describe them beginning with the letters "P" and "E".  We had "Perpetual Educator" (Melvin), "Prolific Egg-Eater" "Pirate Explorer", "Pretty Embarrassed", "Pretty Egg", and of course, "Professional Engineer" (that was Aaron).  I can't remember all of them, some were pretty good!  We had a "Pizza Extravaganza" and Samuel made "Pink Explosion" drink (which is called O'Tai in Tonga).  I'm not sure if Aaron appreciated the party or not. . . . .he would have rather been working, I think.  But it was fun to celebrate his great accomplishment.

While we were waiting for P.E. results, we were asked to spearhead the Dayton ward Youth Conference.  That has taken up most of our spare time and energy through April and May, and was held the second week in June.  It was  a great thing to witness the many talents and efforts of many great people come together to make the event a successful and spiritual experience.  I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am for the divine assistance rendered as well.  And the youth. . . . . are . . . .awesome!! I have faith in the future.

Now that Youth Conference is over we have moved full swing into the Dayton 4th of July festivities.  Aaron gets to be the committee chairman this year :-) as he didn't find anyone else to volunteer for the job. He has a fantastic committee lined up, though, and great family and community members who have tackled some big jobs. It should prove to be a great time for all!  I keep astonishing people when I tell them I'm running the race.  I'm not running IN the race, I'm just running it.  Come join us!

This was baking soda left out after a bee sting treatment

So then for the rest of the summer, we're keeping busy with 4-H, yard work, trying to organize the house, piano, La Leche League, two upcoming county fairs, and oh, we're going to have a baby, did I mention that? Honestly I forget a lot of days, which makes for a speedy pregnancy.  The boys are busy too, making lots and lots of messes as often as they can.

Did we mention that Ergos are a great boy toy?

Here we have powdered sugar and some boys who want donuts.

Easter Egg Hunt With my Purple lovin' boy

This week for 4-H, we taught Baklava, shish ka-bobs and pocket bread to 10 girls, and then "how to build a fire" to 8 boys.  It's a good thing my neighbor (and co-teacher) knows all about building and guarding a fire, because that saying about "those who can't do, teach" is really not a good one to live by.  I'm glad I decided to continue the 4-H tradition started by Carol, but I hope those kids know it's not going to be anywhere NEAR the same :-)  In the meantime, we wish you all a great July, and we'll take birthday pictures!

We'll see you in August!!