Summer's over and there's too much to blog about!

Hi all! Seeing as we're halfway to October, I believe it is past time to update everyone on our summer! It was a whirlwind! We did so much traveling, had tons of fun "family time" and took hundreds of pictures. Since David's last day of work coincided with the last day of scout camp, we decided that we would spend the rest of the summer doing things together. We left the end of July for NC, but on the way, stopped for a brief diversion in Metropolis -- that's in Illinois, for those of you who haven't been. That's right, the home of Superman. Actually, it's jsut a poor excuse for a comic book shop, but it brok up the long drive! WE spent a night with my great aunt and then headed on to my parents house and our favorite place to visit -- Sunset Beach! This year was extra special because my parents rented a house at the beach and we had an extended family vacation. Papa Bill, Uncle Billy, David's mom, and Aunt Jo all came to visit for various lengths of time. It was very fun. We had great fun on the beach, seafood dinners, and many cut-throat Scrabble games!


Our boys lucked out, and met 3 girls who were almost their exact ages and were staying very near to the house we were in. And, believe it or not, the girls actually wanted to hang out with them! The group was pretty much inseparable.


After we left the beach house, we went back to Mom and Dad's for a few days. Mom, Becca and I went out to a fancy Tea House, where we got all dolled up and had "high tea". They had the most delightful herbal tea! I wish I could recreate it! I've saved myself and my mom the embarrassment of putting our pictures up here, but here's an adorable one of Becca. She was certainly in her element at this posh place!

After we left NC, we headed to Georgia to visit with David's grandfather. On the way there, we took the kids to see Fort Sumter. We had a nice time exploring, and the kids seemed to mostly enjoy it, too. :-) They especially liked the cannons.


We enjoyed visiting with Grampa Joe. He took us to Ft. Stewart to show us the Army base and he outfitted all three boys in authentic kid-sized Army uniforms. He told us some great stories from his days in Okinawa, and showed us some old pictures. It was a nice visit.


From Georgia, we headed home. We did take the time to see some friends along the way, though. We visited with the Harpers in Missouri on our way through, and had dinner with the Girouxs on our way through Kansas. Not sure why we didn't take any pictures, but we still had a great time visiting!


We came home to Broomfield for 1 day, then piled into David's truck with the camper behind, and headed to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Unfortunately, in all the hustle and bustle of getting ready to camp, I left the digital camera in the van (which stayed home). We used some disposable cameras in SD, but I haven't yet gotten them developed! Despite the lack of evidence, we tremendously enjoyed our Rushmore trip. We went to Deadwood and saw a real live re-enactment of a shoot out in the street. :-) We toured Rushmore, and came back for the lighting ceremony one night, which was a relaly moving experience. We hiked around the lake where they filmed National Treasure II, and we even found the rock where the "latch" to open the secret chamber was. Couldn't quite figure out how to open it, so we didn't come back any richer! :-)


After our trip to SD, we came home for about 5 days. I went up to girls camp for a day, accompanied "my" girls on a 3 mile hike, saw the markings of a cougar's lair, and generally had a great time. The day after girls camp, we left for Utah! We visited with our good friends, the Sudweeks, who used to live near us in NC. Although I go out to visit pretty regularly when I need a "get-away", the kids and husbands haven't spent much time together in the past few years. Everyone had a good time, and the young ones, who had never lived near each other became best friends instantly. Here's a picture of Becca and Emma with their faces painted at "Highland Fling" (which is a town celebration, sort of like our Broomfield Days, which is coming up.)

We took the kids to see the Great Salt Lake and also to tour Temple Square in Salt Lake City. They enjoyed the sight seeing, and the boys made us proud by choosing new scriptures with their names embossed on them for their souvenirs. Becca, of course, went for the girly stuff -- a CTR bracelet (CTR stands for "Choose the Right") and some lip gloss that says "Modest is Hottest." LOL!

When we returned from Utah, David's mom came for a visit, our cousins, Melanie and John, came for a visit, and David flew back out east to visit his dad and take a motorcycle trip. (All that in about 2 weeks!) Then the kids started school and David started following up on all those job applications he'd been making all summer while the rest of us crashed from too much fun. A lot has happened since school started, but that will have to wait for a later post, since I'm sure you have tired of reading my novella and I am starting to get a cramp from too much typing!

All the best from us to you! Send us a note, we'd love to hear from you! And one last thing -- David does have a 2nd interview on Friday with a company here in Broomfield. We'd really appreciate your prayers and if you'd cross your fingers and toes for this one. We really, really don't want to have to move again! We'll keep you posted!