Summer in iPhone photos

We've had the craziest summer of our lives! Being pregnant and keeping up with our active little guy is enough, but we've been spending time with family, packing, moving and planning my ten-year reunion as well! But we've had a lot of fun despite all the craziness!

We went to John's cabin with my family and it was gorgeous! The the wildflowers were so abundant!


My parents are some of the most hardworking people I know. They will have an idea and just make it happen. They drastically changed the yard in the short time that my dad was here- I'm talking taking out a big, dying maple tree on their own, moving large rocks, taking out a huge row of overgrown hedges (thanks to our neighbor, Dan Perkins for helping with that one!), tearing out an old fence and planting three new trees. Whew! Charlie wanted to "help" Grandpa dig a stump out of the dirt one day.

It's so darling to see the special relationship that Elizabeth has with my parents. She knows them so well because she sees them all the time in Abu Dhabi. Here's my mom and Elizabeth cuddling up together after Elizabeth's bath.


We took Charlie to his first movie in a theatre- Cars 2. It was a little over his head and he got bored halfway through. He spent a little time walking up and down the stairs with Johnny and we ended up taking off early. He was also terrified of the Smurfs movie preview and gigantic cardboard cutout in the hall. My cute family joined us to be part of the memorable day!


Charlie spent a lot of time playing in the backyard with Grandma and Grandpa

John and I went to the Sheryl Crow concert at Red Butte Garden. It was so much fun and a great show! The highlight was seeing our friend, Paul Jacobsen, open for her. What a great opportunity for him- he did a great job!

John and James reading books for one last time before James, Chelsea, Emma and Mark moved to Boise. We miss them so much!

Playing in Grandma T's pool for a little 4th of July party



Sitting in the backyard with Uncle Mark and cousin James (Charlie wanted to hold Mark's hand)

Our friend, Scott, (age 28) had a superhero water fight party. Charlie loved it and caught on to the idea of shooting a water gun right away.

It's been so fun to have Catherine, Richard and Elizabeth in town. Elizabeth is just the littlest sprite of a thing! It's so fun to see her toddling around. She saw this stuffed hippo of Charlie's and instantly got attached to it. She calls it, "Baby" and carries it around then flops herself down on it on the floor and sucks her thumb. Hilarious.

Charlie continues to be very attached to his matchbox cars. He can't hold them all in his hands, even though he tries, so we started giving him tote bags to carry them around in. One day, I got him to wear his little clear backpack (a gift all the way from London from our friend Amy) with the cars inside and he loved being able to see them and wear them around.

Richard and Johnny geeking out over their laptops

We went to Discovery Gateway with Sam, Lily, and Kerry. Lily and Charlie loved the helicopter and had it to themselves for about 15 minutes. We've spent a lot of time with our fun cousins this summer- going on outings to the pool, This is the Place park, and the children's museum- and Kerry and Steve have been so willing and helpful to help watch Charlie so I could pack!

We spoke in our former ward and John and his dad were polishing his talk up until the last minute. Luckily, it all came together and he got a lot of compliments on it! (Three weeks later, we used the same talks in our new ward.)

We rented a giant truck to move all of our stuff to our new house. We had great help from family and friends and moved everything in about 3.5 hours! We're still unpacking, organizing and trying out different configurations but we're here!

How's your summer been?