Because no doubt my memory will fail me.

Today was a very windy, blustery day.  Late in the afternoon I was standing at the kitchen sink watching Jake swinging by himself in the backyard.  Suddenly it started to rain big, fat, delicious-smelling raindrops. I watched Jake, waiting to see what his reaction would be.  Would he run inside?  Crawl under the tramoline?  He turned up his face and kept swinging.  When it really started coming down hard, he ran across the yard with a huge smile on his face, squinting up at the clouds.  He stood under the carport for awhile watching the mini-storm and then came inside to tell me it was raining.

I just wanted to remember that smile on his face and the way he didn't rush out of the rain.  Love that kid.

Longest post ever? Maybe.

There is no way for me to devote an entire post to all the things we have been doing.  But I don't want to skip anything either.  I've got to backtrack to the end of May, before school even got out!  Let this be yet another lesson to me to be more diligent in my blogging!  Here we go.

A terrible photo, but this is Owen's leg a week after he was bitten by a dog while riding his bike with me as I ran.  Jake and Jade were also with me, but Owen was out in front, so he took the hit.  The dog was a big fat Boxer whose owner was on the phone while her daughter let the dogs out and was playing in the gutter half naked.  It was so scary.  I'm so glad it wasn't worse, and that Owen doesn't seem to be traumatized by it.  If it had happened to one of the little boys it would have been a different story.

Picnicking with Lee and Natalie above Green Canyon.  It was freezing cold.  Gorgeous, but freezing cold.  It took summer such a long time to reach us here in Cache Valley!

The orange speck is Owen, spending some time alone due to extreme grumpiness.

Frozen girl.

Beautiful spot.

Coming down the trail.  That might be the last documentation of Finn's stinky snow boots.  They were recently thrown in the garbage, otherwise I assure you he would be wearing them still.

Here is one part of a project I did for the youth in our ward.  This is a paper cutout, illuminated on the wall.  I did a series of scenes from the Tree of Life story in the Book of Mormon for a faith walk the youth did at youth conference.  They were projected onto huge white sheets as the kids made their way up the trail, holding onto the iron rod.  I don't mean to brag, but these were dang awesome.  I was pretty stoked.  I was particularly honored that the youth sought me out to thank me for doing them because they loved them so much.  Sweet!

Owen's class at our year-end luau.  Cute, cute kids!

Harper is my first dirt-loving kid.  Gross!  But good for photos.  

We have a new addition in our yard.  It is a ginormous Canadian Red Chokecherry tree, and it is BEAUTIFUL!  Hooray for a shaded patio!  It was so much work to get in there.  We basically had to dig a hole the size of a hot tub, negotiating sprinkler lines and then moving the thing, which weighed about 20 million pounds.  Seriously.  (Also, when I say "we" did these things, I mean Jason did these things with the help of some other burly men.)

The highlight of Bennett's existence so far:  his acceptance into Hogwarts.  He is attending a Harry Potter camp this summer, and tells me repeatedly how much better it is than Christmas.  It really is so cool.  I'm very happy for him to have this experience!  You can check it out HERE.

Bennett and his buddies at Bear River Charter School's year end celebration.  What a great year with awesome new friends!

Owen's artwork at the year-end art show.

Bennett's masterpiece.

Finn being silly.

Bennett's amazing 3rd grade teacher, Teresa Buttars. As we left the school that night, Bennett told me he knows he'll never have another teacher as amazing as Mrs. Buttars.  How cute.

Owen and his cute first grade teacher, Jamie Wade, outside the school.

Celebrating the last day of school with friends at the Candy Kitchen.

Then we went hiking up the canyon.  Harper was not loving being in the backpack.  In this photo she looks content, but she is actually winding up for a big scream.

Investigating the riparian zone.

A favorite spot to play.  It's only a matter of time before every last one of these boys slips on the mossy stones and gets drenched.

BRRRRRRR!!

Next up:  Ruby and Jade Mohr's birthday party.  Here is Harper with her friend Evelyn.  And her friend the mud cup.

Natalie's yard is always beautiful for parties!

All the friends and cousins watching the gift-opening extravaganza.

Finn enjoyed playing Barbies with Ruby and her friends afterwards.

Jason recently challenged the boys to read the Book of Mormon by themselves.  I took about 5 pictures of Owen one day, camped out reading in various spots.  Soooooo cute.  My boys are really inspiring me to make more time to read.

One thing I have really loved is spending time with my boys after they finish camp (Bennett's Harry Potter camp and Owen's Dragon Lore camp).  We have been picnicking and playing at the park.  I love family time so much.  My boys are growing up too fast!  (That's weird- Jake's making a face.)

We spend the day at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden with Jaime and her kids.  It was so fun.  

Cousins chilling in their strollers.

Pure cuteness.

These boys had the best day together!

Jake and his trusty dino.

Searching for gold.

Harper finally fell asleep after crying for about an hour.

A lovely evening at Adams Park.

Harper LOVES the slide.  She goes down about 40 times every time we go to the park.

Playing with Grandma, who surprised us with a visit.

It's baseball season!  Finn and Harper are camped out, enjoying some snacks while watching Jake play t-ball.

Jake runs for the ball.

Jake and Owen attended a day camp at the Willow Park Zoo called "Care of Magical Creatures."  They loved it, and it was really cool for Jake to go; he's usually too young for all the fun stuff Bennett and Owen are doing.  Owen took good care of him.  When we came to pick them up, this is what we saw.  Finn was a little traumatized by this circle-of-life moment.

Uncle Lee built the boys an amazing treehouse.  Here's Jake climbing up the ladder in the early stages of construction.

Harper seeks out mud, water, dirt, and all other dirty and fun things.

We went to hear some live music at Summerfest this year, as is our tradition.   They highlight for Owen was mastering chopsticks while he ate his food from Mandarin Garden.

And Bennett liked the cotton candy.

And Jake liked the kettle corn.

And Harper liked the Sprite.  Obey your thirst, girl.

Owenator. 

The treehouse nears completion!

Finn is just too cute.  I don't know what we'll do when he's all grown up.

Father's Day wagon ride at Grandma's house!  Finn LOVED holding his cousin, Blue.  Lincoln didn't love holding Harper.  She's a wiggle worm!

Grand procession!

Inspiration for the song "Rock-a-Bye, don't you cry!  We will go to Granny's.  Up the hill, by the mill, we will see the lambies!"  We love walking up to see the lambs at the Storeys' farm.

Trying out Andy's awesome head-massager, a totally sweet birthday gift from Cami and Luke.

And with that, I bid you adieu.