Tomatoes!

Before................. After
Look at our plants! Linda, you wanted to see an after shot, so here you go. They've gone crazy and now they're finally starting to get ripe. You can't really see the ones that are ripe because they are in the back, but we are all very excited to have our own tomatoes. Especially with the recent recall. It couldn't have been better timing. I plan on making salsa this week. Yum!

Pool days

Devin had a rare day off of therapy today, so I surprised the kids and took them to the pool. I've arranged my mother-in-law to come and be at the house for Devin's therapies every Thursday so I can take Justin and Avery to the pool for about 4 hours each week, but since the sessions today were canceled the kids were pleasantly surprised to get to go a second day during the week. I just love watching them play so hard and get all their energy out. They love the pool so much. I wish we could do it more.

Okay, so we're keeping it real on the blog, right? No sugar coating things to make our lives seem like la la land. Devin. Well, I thought he'd be thrilled to go to the pool. And he was to an extent. But after today I'm really glad I don't have to take him every week. He just wasn't satisfied with where we were in the pool or what diving stick we were playing with. Don't get me wrong. He did have fun as you can see in the picture above, but I had visions of him having so much fun he'd be happy with anything. Not the case today. Needless to say, I'm glad I brought my camera because I'm not sure when I'll take him back unless Kirk is with us. Little stinker. :-)

Welcome Summer Days!

Monday's Devin only has 1 therapy session from 9:00-11:00, so I do believe Monday afternoon's the above picture will be a typical sight around here. Avery and Justin had goggles and Devin didn't want to be left out, so he grabbed Avery's glasses that were sitting out and then he was a happy camper. They had a good time playing around and cooling off. Good thing for blow-up pools/slip 'n slides. This particular one is a combination of both. It's pretty fun to run and slide down the slide into this pool area (although, the slide wasn't hooked up to it today).

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to a wonderful father! I hope we honored Kirk enough because he truely does deserve it. He's a hard worker, playful with the kids, a great priesthood holder and example to them of how you honor your priesthood and loves them dearly. I'm glad my kids have such a great all-around guy for a dad. We started the day at church. They gave out home made necklaces with big balls of bubble gum wrapped in it and huge Snicker bars. Lucky! When we got home he opened all our things. The kids had each made cards and such at school and we put together a snack box of all his favorite treats and drinks to have all to himself. He spent the day watching the US Open Golf Tournament, so his day really couldn't have gotten any better. :-) After dinner we honored him with a german chocolate cake - one of his favorites. It was a nice day and I want him to know how much I appreciate all he does for us. I love you, Kirby!

Preschool graduation!

Today was Avery's last day of school and she had her graduation. This past year she has attended a special needs preschool and was a typical peer. What this means to us - it's free! She went Monday thru Thursday 8:30-11:30. The first part of the year she had a wonderful teacher, Miss Angela, but then she got another job opportunity and Avery was very sad to see her go. Since then she had Ms. Cheryl (above). She had about 4 other typical children in there with her and made a couple of good friends. She's had playdates with Iris and Ariana (below) and is looking forward to continuing her friendships with them throughout the summer. Good work this past year, Avery. Way to go, girl!

May the force be with you!

Happy early birthday to Justin! This morning we celebrated Justin's 8th birthday over a month early. Why you ask? His birthday is really at the end of July and it's so hot, people are on vacation and it's just easier to get invitations out at school than during the summer when we've lost track of some people. So, we met 9 of his friends at the local discount theater and rented out a room to ourselves. They watched Star Wars Episode 1, ate popcorn and put their new light sabers that we gave out to good use!

They were really fun to watch. Every time a battle scene came on they'd run around the theater acting it all out themselves. What a fun time!

At the end he opened all his wonderful presents and we headed out. Kirk took this picture of us. I've never seen it before, but he may actually look a little like my son after all. Maybe????? Anyway, it was a great party and they all seemed to have a really fun time. Those light sabers sure were a hit! Happy birthday, Justin....early. :-) We love you!