Murder Party

Joyanne invited her friends to a dinner murder party.

They had a delicious dinner, and then they had to work together to solve a murder mystery.

They were a bunch of silly teenage girls, but it didn't take them long to solve the mystery.

They finished the night off with watching the movie, "Clue".

Taking the girls home was quite the adventure and took about 2 hours.

One girl, who was 15 years old, could not remember how to get home.

We had to drive around for about 15 minutes until the girl could see something familiar and guide us to her house.

The night was a long one, but very fun!

Aquarium Night

We went to the Loveland Living Aquarium for a work party.

We also won a 6-man tent.

The kids loved seeing all the sharks, manta rays, and the many variety of fish there were.

Life is cruising along at a clipping pace, with lots of fun activities that are filling our summer days.

Lasik Eye Surgery

A couple weeks ago I went in to see if I would qualify for surgery on my eyes so I wouldn't have to wear glasses or contacts anymore.

I proceeded with the surgery, and now I see fabulously well.

The first day my eyes stung and burned quite a bit, but I managed to do okay.

 The days following the surgery went pretty well.

 My eyes now have almost completely healed.

 It's great to wake up and not have to worry about putting on contacts or wearing glasses.

 And now I can wear sunglasses, and I really enjoy them!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Daddy actually didn't realize today was Father's Day when he woke up.

He thought Father's day was in July.

 He was happy to sleep in after a late night, or should I say early morning, of work.

After church, he searched for the few presents we got him.

Daddy is such a great man, and he works hard for our family.

He loves to spend time with his kids.

He loves the gospel and is a great example of how to live it well.

Hammock Time

Dad bought us a hammock and, boy, oh, boy, it sure is cozy.

I asked Hiram to take a picture of me in the hammock, but the funny boy took one of himself first.

The kids will come out to the hammock with their books and sit here for hours reading.

Dad and I are paying the kids a penny for every page they read this summer, so we have some super readers!

Hiking in Ogden

This last Saturday we went hiking up Waterfall Canyon in Ogden.

Everyone hiked well, except me.

I didn't realize how out of shape I'm in.

Walking up the hill with a backpack on really winded me.

Grant said to me, "Mom, why are you such a slow poke?"

Usually Grant is the one lagging behind.

But, we all finally made it up the canyon, and the waterfall was refreshing and beautiful.

Dad was the best at hiking. He hiked all the way up, then hiked back down 20 minutes to help Grant and I the rest of the way up.

The kids loved the waterfall, but the water was sure cold!

Recital and Talent Show

Joyanne had her piano recital towards the end of May.

She has really improved this year.

The students performed a "Mob bop" concert, where there were duet songs, trios, and then multiple kids playing on each of the 6 or 7 pianos and keyboards that were there.

The concert was amazing, light-hearted and fun.

Joyanne played in nearly every group song.

Hiram performed in his school talent show the last week of school.

He did a magic trick that blew the kids' minds.

He asked for 3 volunteers to give him a number that was from 1 to 1000.

He had another volunteer add the numbers up, and tell the answer.

In the audience someone else had been holding an envelope since the beginning of the trick.

He opened the envelope and inside was the same number to the answer of the addition problem they had solved.

Hiram is getting to be quite the magician.

Memorial Day

Dad worked lots of overtime this weekend, so I took the kids to family in the Salt Lake area.

We visited graves on Memorial Day with Grandma and Grandpa.

In the afternoon we were able to swim at David and Susan's.

The water was so refreshing on this hot day.

Happy Books

For Family Home Evening, this week, we worked on making "Happy Books".

We filled our Happy Books with pictures, words, and quotes that inspire us and make us happy.

So when we are sad or down, we can look at our happy books.

We used church magazines, like the "Friend", "New Era", and the "Ensign" for pictures, words, and quotes.

We also read out loud inspiring quotes that we liked with each other.

Nathan and Noah

Nathan has been up visiting Noah at our house this last week.

They have had fun playing on the bounce house, riding bikes, riding the 4-wheeler, and just hanging together.