Daddy's Girls



Here's some shots of the girls at the pool with their Daddy. There is nothing they love more than swimming (unless you're talking about "treats"). Kate loves to "dive", as you'll see her attempting in the last picture. As long as she starts with her arms up, in the diving position, it qualifies as a dive in her mind. :)

My Mom came into town last week for a few days. Its always fun to have visitors, but when Grandma comes to stay...well, thats something extra special! And, she came bearing gifts! Kate and Taylor LOVED having her here (and so did Brian and I!)...we didn't do much, but we spent a lot of time at the pool and just chatting and eating yummy lunches. We miss Grandma already!

Kate trying to lay out like her Grandma Becky ...

Summer Photo Contest ...

I randomly entered a "summer picture" into a Natalie Norton-sponsored photo contest. There really were no criteria--just that it was a summer picture.

There were 269 entries and 5 were chosen by local artists ... I was one of the 5, but I won't tell you which photo is mine. Check it out and vote for your favorite by adding a comment.

For those of you who are learning about photography, "Pics and Kicks" is a great source for information/ education--she does a much better job of explaining things than I could ever do.

N.A.D.S. in Training for H2C '08



You might remember this post from a few months back. We are now getting some footage for the Hood to Coast documentary ... With less than two weeks away from H2C '08, the N.A.D.S are in full force training hard ... well, most of the team is.

I know, I know ... look at my shorts--yes, they are short, yes, they are the Texas flag. To me, it is a small price to be part of the North American Distance Sprinters.

Also, check out the production team for the documentary here. Cool stuff.

Brian

The "Smallest" Announcement We've Ever Made...

I know most of you already know this, but I thought I'd make it official and let you know that our little family will be growing by one in January (19th, to be exact). I'm still trying to wrap my head around having 3 kids!!! But, we are really looking forward to it. In 4 weeks, we can even find out whether it is a boy or girl- yep, we are NOT waiting on that one!

I wish I had a cute picture of it...but, I wanted to include the specs, just so you know how "small" it really is:

4 1/2 inches
3 1/2 ounces
and...cute as can be (coming from the mommy!)

Is it just me....

or is Kate getting so tall all of the sudden? When did she turn into a big girl? Every single day, Kate will wake up and say, "Mom, look how much bigger I am today".

Our lives have been so busy lately- I got a new calling in our new ward- YW secretary and its kept me busier than I thought possible- a good busy. I've never worked in Young Women before and its been alot of fun so far. Brian has been busy at work as well as with his new photography business on the weekends. Its so fun to see how much he really LOVES photography.

My little brother, Jake, came into town last weekend and it was so much fun to have him around. Kate would not let him out of her sight and he was asked to do everything from play "house" with her, to catching her on the slide at the pool (at least 30 times), to sitting by her at dinner. We miss you Jake!

Taylor is entering a new [wonderful] stage of life- potty training! Mom could not be more excited to be done with diapers. I hope she keeps up her good work.

We spend most of our days at the pool lately- thanks to the 100 degree plus weather we've been having. You really cannot step outside unless you are in the pool. We've also been going to lots of birthday parties and lunches with the girls. We're so grateful to have so many good friends here. Life is good right now!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY AMERICA!


4th of July ... has to be one of my favorite holidays. This year we stayed in town and kept it pretty simple. We were able to get in all the 4th's activities; a parade, hot dogs, playing in water, and of course, fireworks.

For the parade, we went to my parents' neighborhood. The town of Fairview Police & Fire department put on a great show--at the end of the parade, the fire truck extended out it's ladder and made it "rain"... and the kids loved it--it reminded me of New York where the firemen in Harlem would turn on all the fire hydrants to let the kids play & cool down. It was hot when we started the parade at 10:00, it had already reached 90. While the kids played in the water, we sat in the shade & enjoyed food & stuff.



Taylor opted to just watch the kids and keep dry ... although impossible in this humidity :)

Rachel & Taylor represented on the scooter ...



Kate and I watched the local fireworks from our house ... I set up my camera and tripod to try and get some good shots--I learned how to shoot fireworks at my latest photography class. I set it up, but Kate took all the pictures ... she had a ton of fun--she took dozens of shots, and after each one she would say, "oh dad, this is beautiful ..." Here are a couple that turned out pretty good.



Oh, question to the Jewkes family ... does this count as my "journal writing" for the week??

BC