Birthday Thai dinner

We went out to dinner for Nana's birthday at one of our favorite local Thai restaurants. The Smiths were there too. So fun to catch dinner and later a movie ( one of the worst movies I have ever seen....luckily it was Nana's choice!) At the table that we sat at there was underneath the glass pictures of Thailand and a map of a small region of Thailand. It was the same region that Holman is living in. It was pretty awesome. I love Thai food! 

 

Disaster within inches....

We had a crazy day of summer rains, aka Tucson monsoons. It was coming down fast and furious. We had just had our pool drained and cleaned the week earlier. I went outside to see if the flooding was under control. Thanks to Mark Weigel a friend in our ward who had brought his bulldozer the year before and who spent hours helping clear our streams beds of debris and sand. The pool was within inches of being flooded. Benjamin ran out in the rain and helped secure some breaches that had occurred.

 

Holman mission angels

 If you ask Holman (or any of his siblings) to describe himself he would say "I have the strength of seven men."  It's a family joke but one rooted in some truth. We got a text from him Monday morning that asked the family to pray for two people that got into a serious car accident. He said that he and his missionary companion came upon an accident soon after it happened. They were able to pull a woman from the wreckage and held the car up for a man that was pinned. They held that car up for an hour and a half. He said finally my strength of seven men has come in handy! This brought back memories of the time my kids got in a car accident and one of the first people on the scene was a nurse followed by a mom who had a kid in the car who was icing their knee who willing gave their ice and first aid. Bad things will happen but it is the little things that let us know we are not alone.  A new motto that I am trying to live by is having faith in my savior by trying to be "confident in His care and secure in His hands." Grateful for the seen and unseen angels that are around us. What a privilege that we as humans can be that for someone too. Sorry Holman it was too good of a story not to share.

1st day of school!

Only two kids at home for a first day of school pictures, how did this happen?! So grateful to have these two and even more grateful they are so close. Adrian is going into her last year of middle school at Hermosa Montessori. Parkin is a junior at Sabino High School. I'm at my second year of kindergarten at Leman, so far it is a terrific class. Only 17 kids with no behavioral issues. A teacher's dream. 

 

Swim Team Wrap-up!

 We had another great season of swim team! This year we not only had Scott and Susie's kids Jared and Franklin but we also had Norman Smith double cousins equals double the fun!!

The kids have such a talent for swimming and I love to watch them swim. Swimming in the summer is a family tradition that has gone back close to 18 years.

Adrian ended the season with being the high point winner for the 13 and 14 year olds age group on our team!! I think she got first place in every race she swam. She missed several meets due to vacation in girls camp but she gave it her all every time she was there. At championship she got third place in backstroke sixth place and I am and six in freestyle breaking her PR in freestyle being sub 30 seconds she is fast!!

Park and crushed his season as well! He was the top point winner for our team in the 15 and 18 category and the second highest scorer in the 15-18 year old men's category in our league! I love watching him dive off the blocks. At championships he got first place in the IM, 3rd place in breaststroke and fourth place in freestyle the boy can swim! 

A highlight for me personally was having my twins family on the team. I loved picking each other up for meets, sitting next to each other in the hot sun and watching and cheering each other's children on. Norman was awesome for his first season and such a trooper. It is no joke swimming in the summertime.

Hillary's 50 years of awesome!

My amazing sister Hillary turns 50 this month! John Colin was on top of it and wanted to plan a special sibling's trip. We weighed all our places and options and Hillary ultimately wanted to go to a small Colorado town named Ori. It's known to be the Switzerland of the West. It's beautiful with snow-capped mountains in July wonderful hiking trails some pretty awesome eats and with my siblings it made for the ultimate getaway.

When Hillary turns 40 Lindsay was living in Scotland and Hillary and I flew out to visit her. We were walking the streets of Edinburgh when we saw a sign saying happy 40th. On this trip I thought wouldn't it be great if we could find a sign that celebrated 50 years? Boom tender Mercy from Heavenly Father, I found an amazing sign in this small town. The sign was celebrating the local bank turning 50 years and it's model was together we're golden. That has become our new sibling motto and we love it. How many siblings have a sibling motto?! It's the little things like this when Heavenly Father answers the desire of your heart on such small things that help one realize what a miraculous thing this life is and His love for us is.

 

independence Day fun!

 Lindsay had the Tucson families  over for July 3rd celebration. Of course it was great barbecue with their smoker, kids swam,  and we played puzzles. It was good old-fashioned fun.

On the 4th of July we went over to Scott and Susie's with all the how crew plus The potters who were in town. Another great food fest swimming lots of good conversation good old-fashioned fun.

I'm grateful how deep are roots here. Our support system is so ideal. All the more reason for me to reach out and help others.