Summer

We were having mole problems. Jim was using a trap to try and catch it. Well, turns out our pool was the best trap around. Ew. But John and Mike were very proud to discover it. I didn't swim for a while in there.... John had his yearly checkup and is 39lb (39th%) and 44in tall (71st%) with a BMI of 14.3 (14th%). Tall and lean like his daddy.

Mike made a slither.io man and through he was hilarious. 13 yr old boys is all I have to say about that.

Swim team sunscreen conga line!

Diana was SO excited to have friends over for her birthday. It was a dream come true for her. She had her yearly checkup and is 58lbs (29th%), 52in tall (50th%) with a BMI of 15 (23rd%)

Romantic candlelight or fire hazard?

The summer NCFC soccer camps were absolute highlights of the summer. The kids worked hard, got better and actually DID an organized something. 

Diana especially has discovered how to play better and she is an attacker at heart. 

There were some very hot days, and they were so tired it was lovely.

Jim went again this year to Cabo for Luke's 40th and had a wonderful time!

And of course fishing was involved.

Nicole went to Utah for AFY. Grandma Kathryn showed her Temple Square and the Tabernacle, it was fun for Nicole to see the ginormous organ and realize more of what that is like.

I got some pics of her adventures- biking Bull Run Trail, whitewater rafting, canyoneering, rapelling, rock climbing, along with dances, devotionals and quiet time for reflection and gospel study. I felt it was so important for her to have this experience to grow spiritually and work hard physically. She absolutely loved it and it really blessed her in a lot of ways, especially with an inner confidence to do hard things, be open and friendly with others, and be committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The scenery was gorgeous! I would love to do a trip like this with the family someday.

We are definitely doing this again!

Meanwhile, I was at home with Nicole and Jim gone and we did summer swim stuff including the meets! Katy had her yearly checkup and is 42lbs (9th%), 48in tall (41st%) with a BMI of 13.1 (2nd%). 

John was good with an ipad so I could cheer on the kids.

Diana is a beast on the water with her powerful legs and usually wins.

Mike is such a fun and happy guy. In one meet, he forgot to go there and back. He thought it was just the length of the pool. He made it first place across the pool and stood up, cheering in joy and surprise that he won. The poor coaches! Everyone was yelling for him to finish the race (of course he was disqualified by then) and it was hilarious to see his realization as he popped back under the water and finished. It was SO funny. And classic, happy go lucky Mike. He is a joy. He had his yearly appointment and is 93lbs (35th%), 63in tall (75th%) with a BMI of 16.3 (14th%).

More AFY pics

We did a second week of the soccer camp and it didn't disappoint. John was so stinkin' cute and the coaches loved him. He was one of the youngest of the week but was all systems go and that made it so fun to work with him.

Jake got camper of the week, he is an awesome mid-fielder because he is everywhere with really good stamina. At his yearly checkup he is 59lbs (2nd%), 56in (33rd%) and has a bmi of 13.4 (less than 1st%). He's still growing, and we've always tried to keep his bmi on the charts :) Thankfully he is super active and someday he will stop burning it all off we hope! Since he's had steady growth and been on this curve-just below the curve- his whole life, it's not a concern, just how it goes for him.

Jim had a good surfing day!

Diana earned a lunch date with me (during the summer they do IXL online school stuff each morning and earn "coupons") and her favorite is desert at Longhorn. She is hilarious- so straightforward. This morning I told her that she had too many stuffed animals because they were all over making a mess. She told me, "no mom, this is paradise!" Hard to argue with that haha.

After Nicole's AFY adventure, in which she showered once the whole week, Caleb and Anna were very kind and spend the day with her. It was wonderful to know she was with her aunt and uncle that she really looks up to and that they had a good time together.

This summer we have added a lot of plants hoping to make this backyard garden so relaxing and pretty. It has grown a bunch from this picture and we still have lots of plans for it :)

Michael had young men's camp. Johnny boy really wanted to go!

But he had puppy kisses all afternoon when I had a friend and her boys over, so it worked out great.

Nicole did summer workouts with the XC team and the basketball team. Her bball experience has been limited, but she confidently went out there and did her best every day. Her height and work ethic are what we hope will have the coaches give her a chance.

After a morning of basketball practice, then a night swim meet, this girl was toast!

Her first XC practice was in the pouring rain and she LOVED it. The team has the nicest people on it, such a blessing. She has so much fun she doesn't even realize how far she's run sometimes. So good for her!

Family band practice interrupted by John with an ipad game to show the boys.

Nicole gets bored at band practice sometimes and will play her part with her toes. We are trying to convince her to do that in concert.

I took this shot before the meeting. So fun to see Nicole playing the organ and her cousin leading the music. It's awesome to be in the same ward!

John is 5! Some hot wheels cars and life is good!

The pinata was a hit. Fun family parties make for great memories.

We made sure John began the actual breaking of the pinata and eventually Nicole finished it off bigtime!

Brownies and ice cream are all he wanted!

On top of the world and very loved.

Firefly hunting at night.

Our big summer vacation was local. Someday we will do my big New England road trip that we've postponed for two years. But doing a beach house was pretty awesome!! Watching a storm roll in was so pretty. With everything being weekly beach rentals around us, everyone didn't feel like they had to stay on the beach through it, so it made a very pretty view of ocean and storm.

Every morning, we ran Nicole's XC practice with her. It was so hard, especially on sand. But it was also beautiful and we always felt so good after!

We went to a local park and played some hoops to try to keep up those skills too. The rest of the family went crabbing down the dock.

One morning we went fishing and crabbing and everyone was in on the action.

Katy caught a puffer fish!

Katy had her lunch date with me and Jim during this trip. She felt so special to have time with just us. I love these one-on-one times where we can enjoy the sweetness of the moment.

The water was warm, the weather was clear and not too hot.

The sand bar off the island makes for a ton of tide pool areas with super warm water and little fish to catch.

John would get on a sand bar and be in his own little world.

Sand castles and catching fish for a whole week was so much fun.

We got to use the stunt kite again and the kids LOVED it.

The girls in front of the house.

This house had a window seat that was a favorite spot for afternoon reading. We'd go out early every morning to run and explore and do a little beach time, take an afternoon nap after lunch, then go outside once the hottest part of the day was done. 

Jim got some morning surfing in while I ran with Nicole.

Jacob came out early too- we just can't sleep in at the beach :)

The sunrises are so magical!

One morning of crabbing, Mike caught this nasty one- yes, it's totally alive but covered in seaweed and scum.

We had a fishing line in, two crab nets, and Nicole catching bait fish.

This is her new niche at the beach- she doesn't love fishing and this is so much more immediate and takes some cunning. 

Diana and Mike are the chief crabbers.

Nicole with her mullet fish

Love the scenery on the island.

Once D or Mike catch a crab, Katy uses tongs to put them either back in the water if they're too small, or into the ice chest. It is quite entertaining to watch her overcome her fear of the pinchers with her love of catching them!

Diana made a fish "sanctuary" that we later freed them from. They worked very hard to protect it from the tide as it was going out and it stayed up!

Katy and John love hunting for little fish in the waves.

They found dozens of tickly crabs and John loved his new pets.

Nicole and I found these huge fiddler crabs on our morning run at the southern tip of the island.

Jim and Jake were fishing with no success in the currents at that southern end.

Afternoon surf

Calm shore on the sandbar

Pre-sunrise stillness. We loved our first summer beach house experience and have already booked next years. Still looking for the perfect waves so we are trying a different house.

The Olympics was a fun and motivating thing to watch. We started off the first day with a classic American bbq that Nicole put on.

Katy with her fancy Sunday hairdo.

Mike chose Italy. It was a lot of olive oil for everything but he survived. Anitpasto platter, foccacia bread, homemade margherita pizza, homemade basil lemonade (AMAZING) and gelato.

Jacob did Canada the next night. 

Cheesy poutine fries, cranberry chicken, nanaimo bars and Canada Dry ginger ale.

Nicole did Germany the next night- cheese hedgehog

homemade pretzels

coffee cake

Diana did France the following night. Chocolate souffle was very good!

She was very clear that you WOULD enjoy her dinner!

We spent a night at the Kofford lake house and had so much fun with the cousins!

The hibiscus plants are flowering, we hope they'll grow and bush out more too!

Diana with her fancy hairdo for Sunday.

Katy didn't have enough hair for that but wanted a similar do. Little girls are a lot of fun.

Katy chose to do a dinner from Sweden! Hot glogg, swedish meatballs, and cardamom cinnamon rolls

School shopping is quite an adventure with the big lists they send home for us to get. AFTER I got everything, they said this year they weren't sharing supplies, so only send it what your kids will use. It was pretty annoying since I know my middle schoolers will not go through, for example, 96 pencils this year. Ugh.

Mango saying hello.

Soccer season has begun and the boys loved their practice in the pouring rain.

Diana the mermaid

Her favorite hairdo so far.

With Katy not to be left out!

Nicole after a long day of practices. I love how hard she is choosing to work.

After a year of empty calendars, we sure went from 0 to 60!

Nicole's first XC race! She did 9:30 miles. She has had hip issues and so a few days after this race we had her take a two week break and she'll start again on Monday. She biked during practices to keep her cardio and legs strong, so we will see how it goes. I hope she can race this week or next again!

Jake's new lizard. Yes, another one.

First day of school!

The littles vetting one of my newest escape rooms.

Nicole is getting into archery. Jim is going hunting in a few weeks and once he has that experience, he'll be comfortable taking the kids. She needs to develop the strength to have a slightly stronger bow, and then she'll be able to hunt deer.

Katy scored a goal. I couldn't believe it! She was pretty happy about it!

At Youth Conference, Nicole got to go boating with a bunch of friends, of course including her cousins!

Nicole started school too! She rides her bike and it's so hot but great for her to develop the responsibility and muscle.

Just Mango eating a strawberry.

Mike is a teenager! He is all about the color red. His favorite fruit is a watermelon and strawberry combo, he had snow crab for dinner and red decorations.

Pudding parfaits for dessert. Love this guy, he has to be the easiest teenager ever and so much fun.

John and I read every night and I love seeing him get better. Since he is barely old enough for Kindergarten, I've tried extra hard to help him be ready.

Diana planted a few little marigold seeds and look how they have grown!

We dressed up fancy for a black tie wedding!

Jim is not a fan of bow ties, and I don't know if it was every really straight haha.

We run-stalked Nicole at an awesome trail the team ran on one morning. She's a good sport!

Over 100 degrees heat index for one Saturday of games, it was SO hot! They worked so hard. That's Jake in blue. 

Diana dribbling downfield.

My cookie-making helpers.

We've had another house fire in the neighborhood. You can see the first house, which has now been cleared away at the left side, and the second one near the right. We had to walk home several blocks after church past all of the neighbors who had been out to see what was going on. So sad.

I found this cute baby lizard on our red banana tree! I love going outside and looking at the plants and seeing how they are doing, growing and flowering. This was a fun little treat.