For Ben

I have one reader named Ben and he checks every week. I have severely disappointed him the last 3 months. Sorry Ben. This one is for you!

The best thing that happened in April, May, June and July is that school ended! This summer has been a little bit of heaven. Alyssa has been helpful and happy almost all the time! There has been much Lego playing, trip taking, craft making, and quiet time staying. All of it has been wonderful!

In April we...

:: celebrated Alyssa's 7th birthday





:: watched Alyssa's International Celebration at her elementary school

:: Alyssa took swimming lessons at the YMCA as part of school
:: Attended the San Antonio Temple



:: Saw a green tree frog...on a rain gutter

In May we...

:: Grandma and Grandpa came to visit. We saw the bats under Congress bridge and enjoyed time together - including swimming in the VERY cold hotel pool







:: We said good-bye to our neighbor friends, the Pintos. They finished school at UT and moved to Israel!!



:: Finished out the school year!

:: Took our biggest road trip yet to Arizona for a wedding and family reunion

In June we...

:: Attended Doug and Amanda's wedding

:: Played in Flagstaff with Archibald cousins

:: Returned home from our biggest road trip yet

:: Hosted Katherine and Lizzie Winters for a weekend and a day with bat observing, Barton Creek swimming, perler beads, and kayaking on San Marcos River

:: Got an inflatable raft

:: Went swimming at the community pool

In July we...

:: Celebrated the 4th of July with our annual patriotic church outfits and pancake breakfast. We also camped in Leander with Nana, Papa, Maria, and Joe and watched fireworks in a torrential downpour!









:: Reconditioned our Prius battery in our kitchen

:: Celebrated more friends from Mississippi when the Christiansens came for a visit

:: Lived a week without Alyssa while she had a joyous time with Nana

:: Dressed up likes cows for free Chick-fil-a

:: Celebrated 7/11 with Slurpees

:: Traveled to Chico, CA to visit Claire and James and Grandma and Grandpa where we swam in the pool and at that one state park, hiked to basalt rocks, went to Green Valley to see trains and a gold mine, relaxed, played with fire trucks, played games, and went to San Franscisco







:: Saw Transbay, a design against blast project from Erik's previous life, in San Fransisco

In general over the summer we did lots of projects, played lots of Legos and enjoyed the air conditioned comfort of our own home.

And our kids are cute and make us happy most of all the time....

This has been a brief overview, heavy on pictures but not even including all the pictures we have! Feast your eyes and maybe I'll do an August - December update soon!!

3 months in to 2018

Happy Easter!

Plus some more love...

Major events and happenings:

:: We went to Dallas for spring break and saw the Stephens and the Jensens.

:: Our car flashed every warning light possible on the way home in the middle of no where. Thankfully we stopped near a rest stop that had no power for the first hour, were rescued by Nana and Papa, missed a huge hail storm because of the long wait at McDonalds, made it home with pretty happy kids all things considering, and saved $1000 or so when Erik decided to fix the high voltage battery in the Prius himself. 

Miracles still exist, my friends. I cannot doubt that God's hand was in all of that!

:: Spring has sprung and is turning quickly into summer. Each night below 68 F I give thanks for!

:: Joel has started taking naps longer than 45 minutes as of yesterday!

:: General Conference was lovely!

:: Taft says adorable things like, "Hey Wh-yssa, wookin' good!"

:: Alyssa is reading more and more everyday. She is very helpful and strives to make peace with Taft. She is insightful, sensitive, and sweet.

:: Joel is adorable. He's pretty quiet most of the time, though has started yelling on occasion. His skin reacts to peanut butter. He's happy and soft and beautiful!

Some more love...