Summer in a Nut Shell

It is August....wow...when did that happen.  It has been a crazy and fun summer and here are the bullet points.

Shad and Sandra came to visit the first part of June and our days were full of fun.  We went to Antelope Island and were able to convince the ranger to let us passed the gate and were able to get within feet of the buffalo.  I'm not sure what I was thinking, I woke up the other day and realized exactly what that meant..buffalo are not tame and they're a tad bit bigger than your average animal.

 Animals tend to poop when I'm around.  I think I'm a very relaxing person.  While looking around the barn we saw what we assumed was a dead animal.  The lighting was off and I didn't want to get very close but the big heap of something started moving and suddenly little quills started to show and we realize that this was the biggest porcupine ever to exist.  We sat and watched him for a while as he stretched and sat up on his hind legs..we would have taken him home if we thought we could sneak him past the HOA.

The girls thought this little wind tunnel at the local mall was fun, I was just glad they spent their own money on it.

Gardner Village is always a favorite.

We discovered the Daybreak park and Jacob thinks that he is Spiderman. Bailey, as always looks lovely.
 

Kaitlyn is a little monkey.

Zach hasn't been around much this summer.  He has a new job working at Smiths and it keeps him pretty busy.  The only time I seem to see him is when we pass in front of the microwave.  I love going into Smiths and seeing him him working.  The customers and the management seem to enjoy his sarcasm.

My angel turned 8.....EIGHT!  I had a few crying fits and I'm sure more will come as he is baptized this weekend.  He gets more imaginative and more darling every day.  For his birthday he got a bunch of squirt guns so he could soak the neighbor kids.  One of our teenage neighbors was complaining that he was dehydrated.  Jacob walked up to him holding a giant water balloon and said with great swagger "so, Ezra, I hear you're dehydrated" and threw the balloon right at him.

Kaitlyn was hit by an ariel firework on July 4th while at a neighborhood party.  She had a horrible burn but somehow despite her pants catching on fire it was only her hand to get the worst of it.  She developed a staph infection (of course) and missed out on a lot of summer play time but is healing up beautifully.

Oh so cute!

We had MAJOR snake issues this year.  They deserve a post all of their own.

We hosted a group of students from China.  It was a great experience and even though they've been gone for a couple of weeks I'm still trying to recover. 

My little Kaitlyn who will be 12 this month is such a beauty.

I love his smile.  He is the happiest kid I've ever met.