Pics from reunion, almost stitches, turtle, and more

Okay so it's been almost a month and I finally got my pictures from the family reunion uploaded for your viewing pleasure. You can check out my whole album here. I am in the process of collecting pictures taken by other members of the family as well so that I can compile a book about our adventures.

I know I am a major slacker lately on this blog. The summer is so busy. This week we had a youth activity and we took the kids boating. It was a great time. The kids got the chance to go tubing and wake boarding. Kaylee enjoyed wake boarding a lot and can't wait to go again. We ended the night in the ER though. Kyalee cut her knee on the step in the water on the back of the boat. It was a pretty good slice so I took her in. She was so nervous about getting stitches so we said a little prayer that she would be comforted. A few minutes later the doctor came in and said "The good news is, it doesn't look like it will need stitches, I should be able to take care of it with steri strips." Keep in mind this is after the triage nurse had already said it would definitely need stitches. Kaylee was so relieved and grateful. I was relieved that I wasn't going to have to try and hold her down for stitches. I don't think I could have done it, she is as tall as me now. Here are a couple of pics. ( I know, it's gross) So she got a couple of steri strips to put her back together. They covered that with a big bandage and an ace wrap to keep her from bending her knee too far and splitting it back open. Believe it or not that took over 2.5 hours. We sat for over an hour after the doc finished waiting for a bandage and discharge papers. The doc came back in and said "Are you still here? I was finished with you an hour ago, let me see what I can do to get you out of here." Fifteen minutes later we were finally out the door.

On another note, I am getting ready for Girl's Camp next week and very excited to be able to spend a couple of days up at camp with the girls in our ward. It is going to be a fun time. I have been keeping busy with my scrapbook design work and am still selling quite a few shirts a day in my shop. That has been really fun. I am now trying to decide what I should do with my time when all the kids go to school next month. Even Kyle will be going all day as we were able to get him into the all day kindergarten program at our school. He is very excited, and so am I. It has been almost 14 years since I have had the house to myself all day every day. Whatever will I do with my time? Maybe it's time for me to go to school too. I guess we'll see.

The kids are busy as ever. The boys have been doing swim lessons this summer and all three boys passed off their levels in the first session. Kyle has gone from being terrified to get in the pool to being a little fish in a matter of about 2 weeks. Both Jake and Ryan are improving and learning their strokes and having a great time. Aside from lessons, we have been spending a lot of time at the pool and I have been working on my tan. :] The boys also spend a lot of time in the park by our house. They love catching crawfish, snails, small fish and whatever living creatures they can find in the pond. They are learning to put them back into their environment at the end of the day, because they often don't last through the night in captivity. :(

Tiffany is playing softball again this year and it is fun to watch her play. She is trying her hand at pitching this year and is doing an excellent job. She is looking forward to starting at the middle school in August and hopes to play Volleyball in the fall.

Kaylee is a major social butterfly and is rarely home at all. She has been hanging out with her friends and babysitting a lot this summer so she too is staying very busy. She is rarely seen without a volleyball in her hands.

All of the kids are also enjoying the trampoline we bought this summer for our back yard. They have all learned all kinds of tricks and flips and spend lots of time jumping around. I just wish I could jump with them. (but that's another story)

Mike is traveling pretty regularly again. Right now he is going to Nashville as he is preparing for his job in Oklahoma which should start in the fall. We miss him when he is gone, but are enjoying being able to talk to him in the evenings using our new web cams and pack all we can into the weekends when he is home.

We had another 4th of July party this year and had a total blast. I have uploaded the pics from that party to my sharing site here.

Today we found and saved a turtle from certain death. (he was trying to cross the street just down from our house) He has been fun to watch but we plan to release him back to the park tomorrow (after a call to animal services to make sure that is the right thing to do) Here is a picture of the turtle.

Well, I think that is about it for now. It certainly is long enough, don't ya think? Anyway, life is fun, life is crazy, it's busy, but I wouldn't trade a day for anything different. (Except maybe a small vacation without the kids, coming soon :] )