Hard to believe the summer is over! Like anything, there is opposition in all things. I could focus on the fact that this summer we had two broken wrists (Henry, Clayton), hand foot and mouth disease (Benjy, Clayton), a mercifully short-lived back injury from a tube on the lake (Robbie), a laptop ruined when a cup of water was knocked into it (mine), a lamp shattered (also mine), a 100+ pound desk hutch which fell on Henry who miraculously escaped with only some bruised ribs and scrapes, multiple swim goggles lost, innumerable scrapes, cuts, bonks, fights, tears, door slams, and unkind words, plus verticillium wilt and Mexican bean beetles in the garden, again. However, for every bad thing that happened there were a dozen wonderful things, a few of which I'll highlight below.
Henry turned 10! Crazy. He had a fun birthday party with friends despite the fact that he fell on his wrist right before the party prepping a water balloon obstacle relay in the backyard. He decided to have the party anyway and we learned he had broken his wrist. But what a beast to be able to press forward through the pain to have his party anyway!
During the afore-mentioned birthday party, Clayton fell all the way down the stairs. He also broke his same wrist. So grateful for good doctors at UVA who could put waterproof casts on them so they were still able to swim at the pool. What a blessing!
Blueberry mint lemonade after picking blueberries is truly a highlight of the summer for me.
Another blessing--having a wonderful dad in our lives! Robbie made the yellow trophy for Michael at a local pottery shop and glazed it and then it was fired. Pretty impressive.
Got a great garlic crop, yay!
Henry and Robbie had a great swim season, and Benjy even graduated to the official Barracuda team and participated in his first swim meet. Very proud of them.
We had a lovely visit from the Armstrongs and the Allreds. So much fun and the kids all got along really well.
Cousin youth temple trips--so special.
Matt was able to bless Daisy with Michael and Uncle Tommy's help as well. What a sweet privilege to be part of that.
The next week we were thrilled to have a visit from Uncle Clay, Amie, Lia, and Cailey and Colin as well as Colin's brother, Kobe, who currently lives in WV.
They were incredibly kind to our kids and it was a blast hanging out with them.
We boated to a restaurant for the first time. It was tough trying to parallel park with a boat, but Michael managed to find a spot and got in and out without hitting any other boats. Phew!
Uncle Clay brought his fishing gear and taught our boys how to fish. So precious.
And of course we celebrated Uncle Clay's birthday on the 4th! Cailey made him some amazing pumpkin pies from scratch.
Riven Rock park is another yearly highlight for us.
Then Robbie turned 13--wow. He had a fun party at Riven Rock with friends and then they came back and watched Jurassic Park.
A vase of fresh hydrangeas makes a summer day even better.
Uncle Hyrum came all the way from Vegas to visit! We had a great time with him and his/our friends, the Hinkles.
Hyrum is so sweet with our kids. We hope to see him again soon.
Yay for one giant heirloom tomato!
When we were in Alaska, Clara was having a blast with our babysitter and friend, Maybree Spilsbury. It was a win-win--Clara was happy about not having to go on hikes and she also had fun at home.
Maybree dropped Clara off at the lake house and played with us there for a couple of days. She has been such a blessing to us and a true answer to prayer.
One of my dreams is to have my family play games together. We have some competitive, passionate, and sensitive spirits in our home, and this moment where the older three boys (with Clayton looking on) were playing well, having fun, and managing conflict without throwing cards, walking away, or crying, was truly a golden one. I pray we have more like it.
Clayton turned 4! I can't believe it. How did he get so big? He is in a very self-conscious stage and didn't want to be sung to, but he survived. We invited our friends, the Petersons, over to celebrate with us. Clayton initially asked for a blue cake exactly like Benjy's from last week, but I persuaded him to have something different (for my own sanity) and so he requested a dinosaur cake with a volcano. It's one of those creations where it looks super amazing if you blur your eyes and look from a distance. Just don't look too close ;-).
We ended the summer with the Rockingham County fair, fun in the pool, more library trips, movies and video games, board games like Harry Potter Monopoly, Cover Your Assets, and time with friends.
We're gearing up for school again but so grateful for such a wonderful summer.
Thank you so much for sharing all of these photos. They made me feel like I was there and not missing out on everything! You are such an amazing mom and I hope I can grow up to be just like you. Lots of love.
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