Sweet Summer!

This has been a fun and busy week. Some highlights were going to the ward pool day on Monday. It is so nice for all the kids to have friends to play with. There was a friend and more for all the kids and that makes things really nice for me cause no one is asking to leave because they are bored. I enjoyed chatting with friends as well and was only interrupted when Ren was upside down in the tube! I didn't even have time to pull my cover up dress off...oh well, I was hot anyway so was able to cool off.

On Tuesday, Natalie and her kids came over and we hit the beach! My niece, Clara is here visiting with Nat from AZ for a bit too so that was extra fun. And lucky us...my cousin, Madelyn, from Florida, met us down at the beach too! Alex and Ren were so fun to watch! They raced around the surf copying each other...running in and out of the spray. They laughed and yelled and laughed some more!

Alex and Ren

Clara, Chloe and Maddy bury Ellie

Ellie got burried in the sand...someone has to do it!

The sandcrabs were out in force that day! All the kids had fun searching and collecting them...there were some really big ones too! We convinced the kids to leave them at the beach so they would live, thank goodness! They smell when left in the backyard in the beach buckets! :)

Chloe, Maddy and Clara...looking for sandcrabs

On Tuesday night, my Aunt Marilyn, along with cousins, Brooke and Madelyn came over. We had such a good time visiting! They are out taking a vacation here in the west from Florida. They have been in AZ and UT already. I've really missed them. They used to live close in San Juan Capistrano several years ago. In fact, 14 years ago, they were kind enough to let us live with them for a month or so as we searched for a place to live. They have always been to good and generous to us. Anyway, it was so fun to catch up on all my cousins...Brooke just got home from a mission in Argentina and is trying to get into BYU for fall and looking for a place in Provo. Jess is a river guide this summer (that sounds so fun!!!) and will be living in Provo area for school this fall as well. Stephen will be a senior this year and he has some of the funniest things to say on facebook! Lars will be a junior, he is on the fast track to Westpoint in 2 years. He is 6 ft 5 in. I know...Whoa! He has been on the river with Jessica the last week. And cute Madelyn will be in 8th grade. She is such a mix between Jess and Brooke, it is funny. She is character and has a real funny bone! Mel left to go back to Temecula to stay with some old friends while Maddy stayed the night with us. She and Chloe had a lot of fun together. We met up with Brooke and Mel in Oceanside at the beach the next day. It was so fun to see them!

In the meantime, my baby boy...I mean, teenager, Porter is off to North Carolina. He left on Thursday and will be spending the next 9 days with cousins. He was so excited! I kept telling him not to forget to brush his teeth while away. He asked me why I kept telling him that. I said because I always have to remind him at home. He explained that he doesn't forget to do it, and I don't need to remind him anymore. I really hope this is true!

Isn't this the cutest ever? Ren really wanted to hold Addison, Tony and Nat's sweet baby. Ren was very proud of himself!