Images of Summer

Our first project of the summer was to redo the upstairs bathroom.  The wallpaper had mildew growing underneath it and needed to be removed.  We figured while we were at it, we might as well replace the flooring too.  So now we have a very purple bathroom - I, for one, really like the change.



Before





After





Andrew got a brand new pillow for his 13th birthday.  His first new pillow ever!





Lida is 5!  She is loving learning to read and do math in school.

 In July I went to Wisconsin to visit Hannah and see her new baby.  I had forgotten how much fun humidity can be!  It was so humid when we went to the Madison Zoo that my clothes were sticking to me - and it wasn't especially hot!

Oliver makes a good penguin, doesn't he?

We got to celebrate a double birthday this year.  Stephen was down visiting for a few weeks and we got to celebrate his birthday with Tyler.  We had the cousins over for cake and ice cream and had a great time.

We all loved our camping trip with my family at the end of July.  The kids got to get their feet wet in the creek (they played there almost constantly) and we adults enjoyed a nice long visit.

Swings are forever ruined for SarahAnn who loved the zip-line.

Super Mom!!

After our camping trip with my family, we went camping with Tyler's family.  We stopped at the Oregon Trail Ruts in Wyoming on our way up to Mount Rushmore.  In this picture you can see how deep the ruts are - about 3 feet deep.  Can you imagine how many wagons passed through here to make ruts that deep?

I must say that Mount Rushmore was not as awe-inspiring as you would think it should be.  The story about how it was carved was interesting, but the mountain, itself, was a little disappointing.  That said, the Black Hills of South Dakota are worth every mile we traveled to get there. I fell in love with the Black Hills and the short grass praries.  I'd like to go back again and just breathe the air and feel the wonder and beauty of God's creations.

So Charming!!

The Little Girl's Club (Grammy was an honorary member.)

Alvin had his third birthday at the end of the summer.  He picked out his cake - it had to be in the shape of a 3, it had to be blue, and it had to have cars that he could keep.  I think I fulfilled all his requirements.

Tyler and Katherine finally got to go on their annual camping trip together last week.  They camped out by Table Rock and went on a nice long hike on Saturday.  The picture here really doesn't do justice to the beauty of the mountains.  They didn't make it to the summit of Table Rock, but they did enjoyed their time together.