More Swim Lesson Pictures

The other pictures I posted for swim lessons were really blurry.  I was playing around with the camera on the ipad during lessons one day.  It doesn't take GREAT pictures.  Here are some from my little point and shoot.

Mallory with her teacher, Jen Peterson.  Jen is amazing.  She is so much fun, yet very firm and doesn't give in to crying, screaming kids.  She made Mallory go under water every single swim lesson.  That's a BIG deal, considering that girl NEVER gets her face wet.

Zachary, of course, refused to take a picture with Jen.  He took one with me instead.

We've been doing a whole lot of swimming at home in our pool this summer.  Our neighbors and great friends, the Appel's, have come over a lot to swim too.  Here is Mallory and Ashley in their matching swim suits.  These girls LOVE eachother so much.  They can't go a day without seeing one another.  Hopefully they'll be in the same class this coming year in Kindergarten.

New Melones

Every July we head out to Angels Camp with our friends, The Casper's, and we go boating on New Melones for 3 days.

It's pretty much the highlight of our whole summer.

Wakeboarding, Wake Surfing, Eating, Tubing, Lounging, Eating, Sunbathing, and more EATING.

Oh, and swimming.

I didn't actually go tubing .. just hung out in there with Mallory.

Zach took a nap every day on the boat.  We wore him out and I LOVED the peace and quiet.

Makayla did incredible at wake boarding this year.  I was very impressed.

Our third day, we anchored the boat close to this little island.  The kids swam over and picked up rocks, shells and bird feathers.  Brenda and I got some quiet sunbathing time on the boat.  It was heaven.

Not sure if Wesley was posing or not for this picture, but it is one of my favorites.

It took a LOT of convincing to get Mallory on the tube, but she warmed up to it .. and then we couldnt' get her OUT of the tube.

My handsome husband.  I sure do love him.

And THIS is a sign of a great vacation.  They slept ALL the way home. 

It was a great week.  Thank you Casper Family!! 

Bowling

AMF Bowling is doing free bowling for kids this summer.  I signed the kids up and we get vouchers every week for them to go and bowl.  We used them once at the beginning of July and had a great time and now we need to go back.

Zachary refused any help while bowling.  He wanted to do it all on his own.

Mallory got more strikes and spares than anyone.  She was AMAZING!

Daddy and Zach

I didn't get a good picture of this, but every time Zach bowled, he would turn around with his arm in the air and yell, "YES!!" (even when he just knocked down one pin).  It was so much fun to watch.

Girls Camp

I had the opportunity to go to Girls Camp in the middle of June.  It was a blast.  It's a week of fun up in the mountains.  The girls from our ward are beyond amazing and I loved having the opportunity to get to know them even better. 

Here's a picture of all the girls that were in our yurt (before 4th levels came back from their hike).  We had 5 non-members with us and they all had a great time. 

I was 21 weeks pregnant at Camp and I was REALLY worried about how I would handle the altitude, heat, hiking, and the air mattress to sleep on.  To say I was blessed that week is an understatement.  The weather was perfect and cool, so I never got swollen or too hot.  The altitude didn't bother me at all.  I slept great all week and felt like I had a ton of energy to hike around from upper to lower camp and everywhere in between.  It was an awesome week!

Our theme for all of camp was "Happily Ever After" and our fairy tale for our ward was Beauty and the Beast.  We all had these "Beauties" t-shirts and mine said "Beauties and the BEAST" on it.  So fun.

Some of us waiting for 4th Levels to get back from their hike.

Me and Sarah - one of my YCL 17's.

Me and Taylor (one of my YCL 16's)

Our entire ward - including Stake Leaders.

Me and ALL my girls.  Such a fun group!

Melanie and I discovered we had the same Pajama Pants one morning.  Twinners!  She was my only 1st Level during the week.  We had a great time with her.

Alina and Megan

Karina Snow (my AMAZING Camp Director) and Danielle Adamson (my INCREDIBLE 2nd Councelor).  They made the week SO easy and care free.  We had a LOT of laughs and such a great time.  I am sad that I won't be able to go up all week next year. (since I'll have an 8 month old) I'm SO SOO glad I got to go this year.  Good times.

Let's Back Up A Bit ...

So .. you all know how far behind I am on blogging.

Like a year?

Yeah, yeah .. okay.  Let's play catch up ... like a month or so.

I took these pictures of the kids on Father's Day. 

I can't believe how much they have grown.

Zachary will be 3 in September and Mallory will be 6 in November.

Time sure does fly right on by.

Swim Lessons

I am trying to blog from my brand spankin new iPad. This is going to take some getting used to. Hopefully I will be blogging a lot more often though. One can dream, right?

We had our last day of swim lessons today. Mallory and Zachary did great. I really had my doubts about Zachary being ready for swim lessons this year, I mean, we have our own pool and everything, but you never see that kid with more than one foot in the pool. He just screams and screams when we make him go in. Super annoying.

Jen Peterson is the greatest teacher ever. She had Zachary swimming in 3 lessons. He is so much more confident and willing to get in and play in the pool now. It is awesome!

Mallory did great this year too. This is her 3rd round of lessons and she finally put her face in the water!! Breakthrough!! It is a big deal. She has always been afraid of getting splashed in the face and also going underwater, so we are really proud of her and how far she has come. She is also working on her back stroke and breast stroke. So awesome!

Holy Ghost

There's a LOT that has gone on since the last time I blogged. 

Will I EVER catch up? 

Probably not. 

But, I have to write this down somewhere before I forget it. 

Sometimes I think that my kids don't listen to me.  Wait.  Let me re-phrase that.  Sometimes I KNOW that my kids don't listen to me, but then something happens and you realize what you've been trying to teach them actually got through their heads.

Today, we were on our way home from dessert .. we like to do that now .. have dinner at home and then go on over to the drive thru at "Old Mac Donalds" (Mallory has called it that for years) and get an Oreo McFlurry for me and some Vanilla Cones for the kids.  On our way home, a guy on a motorcycle got in front of us and Mallory asked, "Where is he going?  Is he going to our house?"  I said, "I hope not, cause we don't know him.  I don't want a stranger at our house." Then Mallory said, "Sometimes strangers come into people houses and they take food and toys." I said, "Isn't that sad that people make bad choices like that?"  Then Mallory said, "Yeah, cause then they don't have the Holy Ghost to be with them anymore."

I love the simple understanding that children have of gospel principles (and moral standards).  If you do something wrong, then you don't have the spirit with you.  I hope that my kids will strive to make the right choices, to always have the Holy Ghost with them, to be a guide and a protection to them throughout this life.  It's my prayer for them. 

This last weekend, we were able to sit at the feet of our Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, his wonderful councelors and twelve apostles as we listened to General Conference.  What a blessing that was.  I am so grateful for this gospel.  I loved watching my kids sit on the couch and say, "Hey!  That's President Monson!" or see Zach's face light up when the Tabernacle Choir started singing.  You can see how innocent and accepting they are of the spirit.  What a blessing.