Patio

We love our yard in the summertime. It is shady and private and one of our favorite things to do is sit around the fire with family and friends on late summer nights.

We built this fire pit years ago and it has served us well. However with the high traffic, little sunlight, and sandy soil, our fire pit are was beginning to look a bit like...a pit so this year we decided to have a paver patio put in and we just broke it in this weekend.

This was our sad little fire pit before.

Here is the after. We LOVE it!

It took a little more time and money and caused a little more damage to our existing lawn than we were expecting but I think in the end it was all well worth it.

We have to plant some new grass to repair the damaged areas but we look forward to many years of late summer nights enjoying our new patio.

10 & 3

My little baby just turned 10. Ok...so I guess she is not a baby anymore. Is it crazy that I have a 10 year old? June is party central in our house and if we are not hanging up decorations, blowing up balloons, or eating cake we don't know what to do with ourselves. The parties this year were just small family parties filled with love and laughter. I can only imagine what wish Abby had in her head at this very moment.

Abby at 10:

She loves to read. She is caring and thoughtful of others. She loves piano and her new teacher. Her favorite thing to do over the summer is her "summer school" where she has made an entire classroom downstairs and teaches the kids things all summer long. She is funny, forgiving, and a great friend. She has a strong testimony and loves her family very much. We love having Abby in our family!

Our little Sam just turned 3 and boy...does he add life to our family. He was so excited about his birthday this year, he talked about it for weeks.

He got a kite, bubbles, chalk, and some books. We also went to go see Kung Fu Panda at the movie theater which he was so excited about.

Our little Mr. Sam at 3:

Loves his little brother Logan. He loves to be one of the big kids and have sleepovers and stay up late. He has a smile that can light up a room. He gives the best hugs ever. He loves to "fuggle" (his way of saying snuggle) and read stories at nap time and bedtime. He is funny and energetic and we can't wait to see him grow through the years.

It's My Party...

I am officially 34. I have had a wonderful birthday week and despite having to give a talk and teach a lesson during church today this has been one of the nicest birthdays I have had in a long time. It started early in the week with some of my best girlfriends. We all climbed in bed together to watch Bachelorette and eat some DELICIOUS cold cake that my very sweet and very pregnant friend was willing to make for me. I think this is one of the most beautiful cakes I have ever seen and it was definitely a special treat.
Saturday morning Charlie surprised me with a 90 minute massage and it was wonderful. I loved every second of it and it was the perfect relaxing moment that I was needing. That night he had pulled together a party with some of our good friends and it was a blast.
We ate lots of amazing food including another beautiful and delicious cake from another great friend and we sat around the fire and played some rounds of badminton and laughed and laughed and laughed.
The weather was perfect and I think there is nothing better than ending the night with a roaring fire surrounded by amazing friends.
Tonight the kids decorated and sang happy birthday to me but we all agreed we were ready for some birthday carrots, not cake. We have had our fill of sweets and now it is time to get my 34 year old behind out on the road and burn off some of those delicious calories!