Eight is Great

Spencer was baptized last week and it was a great day! My mom and Matt's mom and dad were able to fly out for the weekend and to participate in the baptism. We held it at our church on Sunday night and it was great to have so many friends and ward members come to support him. I thought there was such a nice spirit at the meeting.

Nate, Spence, and Sam sang "When I Am Baptized" (the rainbow one) and it was so sweet, I was tearing up at the piano. I am really proud of Spencer. He is a thoughtful, loving boy and he has really taken this decision seriously. He reads his scriptures and is a good example to all of us. At the dinner after, I felt so blessed to have the family and friends that I have. I love my boys so much and Matt is a valiant father for them. I felt a little like John, that there is no greater joy than to see my children walk in truth.

Hurricane Rain

Last weekend we had a ton of rain. When it rains hard enough a river starts flowing through our backyard. The boys went out to play (including Matt with all his rain gear on) and they had a blast! They raced boats (pieces of wood) and plastic bottles. They even tried Sam's pirate ship in the cement drain. It didn't stay upright very well, but they had fun with a mailbox that floated down and other stuff. They even found a cute turtle and some squished frogs. Cam didn't last long-it was pretty cold. I was happy to watch them all having such a fun time.

Back to School

The boys started back to school, and boy was that a hard week.  I love going to the beach at the very end of the summer, but this year I had an especially hard time jumping back into real life.  They were all excited about their teachers and riding the bus and seeing old friends.  There is always the stereotype that school lunch is disgusting, but my boys love it!  Matt stayed to say good-bye to them and Cameron had to get his backpack out just like he was going too.  He was pretty sad when he had to stay home by himself.  It only took about 30 minutes for him to say "Where Nate?"  And then after that, "Where Daddy?"  

Sam if off to Kindergarten so he is gone all day just like the older boys.  He is doing great and he loves to tell me about his work.  I really miss him.   While I'm thinking about him, here are a couple "SAMS."  

I remembered today why I shouldn't have him empty the garbage for his chore.  I see this odd collection of things I though I threw away sitting on the bench.  Sam comes in and says, "I just emptied the garbage and look at all this great stuff I found!"  Sooo cute, but now I have to figure out how to throw it away again.

On our way to soccer the other night, he says, "Mom, see those signs with the big P and the line through it?  That sign means that you can't pee anywhere around there."  I tried to explain that it meant that you couldn't park there, but he was so sure about it that I thought, yea, you shouldn't pee there either.  What a unique way of thinking he has-he sometimes reminds me of my sister Emily.  Love that boy...and all my boys!

The Beach-Part 1

We had another fabulous vacation in North Carolina! Here are a couple of just our family.

Our ONE picture together on the beach.

Cam enjoying the wildlife.

Sam boogie-boarding.

Spencer digging-they dug for crabs for hours.

Nate coming in from the waves.

Cute Matt hangin' out.

Our beach house from the backyard.

Peach Picking

I am trying to catch up with a few posts that have been lying around for awhile. I still have Utah pictures, birthday pictures, first day of school, and now we are back from our vacation so I have hundreds of beach pictures.

Anyway, here is a fun outing we went on with our neighbors in August. This lovely farm had tons of fresh peaches and blackberries. We even picked some fresh corn for dinner and ate a few raspberries too.

Tomato Heaven

When Hillary visited us last spring she helped me build a garden box on our hill. We are reaping the rewards of that now and I am loving it! I'll have to post a picture of the box sometime. We have had more tomatoes than we can eat. I made Tomato Basil Soup and I even froze some batches of crushed tomatoes.  The golden tomatoes are especially good sliced with a little balsamic vinegar.  Yum!  

I have been eating these almost daily!