This is S u M m E r!

Our Summer has been fun, different than our usual hang out and do fun stuff summer we have been spending all our spare time working on our house that is almost done.  You can head over to the house blog Here  to check out all the fun progress there.

Marin had her summer dance recital she danced well and shouted I love you Daddy as she ran off the stage, pretty sure Mark is still smiling about that one.  Marin switched dance studios and is loving her new class and teacher, it was a little bitter sweet leaving her first place she had so much fun and loved her teacher! Thank you Aubrey!

Mark and I went for a hike with some friends of ours. We all agreed that hiking with Mark is no picnic ( I could have told them that) We all felt like 5 year olds on the worlds longest car ride with burning quads asking "Are we close?" The farther along we got our asking turned into pleading "PLEASE tell us we are almost there!" To which his response was ALWAYS "Almost there" We still had a mile to go and it was almost there.  Sheesh.  The view from the top wasn't as breathtaking as other hikes we have been on but there is always a sense of accomplishment when you reach the top of anything.

Just to make myself feel better here is a showered non hike picture of the 2 of us.

H a P p Y : F a T h E r ' S : D a Y : Man alive he is such a good Dad to these 2 kids of ours.  I love this picture it makes me smile every time I see it.  Heading into church on Father's Day.  The kids colored him pictures and he got mountain bike shoes. Good Day Good Day

Our mountain in Alpine went up in flames.  It was one of the most stressful things I have witnessed in a long time.  Mark took this picture has he was coming out of his doctor appointment.

Speaking of doctor appointments I had to go pick up the folks from the airport so the kids went with Mark to the doctor they loved sitting on the sofa reading books and acting like big kids, how cute is that?

Back to the fire.  Images like this just made your heart skip a beat, It isn't the best picture but it is from my phone and I was more amazed watching it then with snapping pictures. 

The view from our deck the 2nd night of the fire.  We all prayed for rain because nothing was stopping or slowing down this fire.  Our prayers were answered and the rain helped get the fire under control and after the storm had passed we had a lovely double rainbow that I noticed as we were cleaning up at our new house.

We had a family camp out sleepover in Mark's brother Jimmy and Lori's backyard.  Here is Grandma Bev with all 9 of her grand kids! They had so much fun and they played so well together which any parent will tell you is a blessing when the kids get along!

Damen and Isaak slept in our tent they were such good sports to let Marin sleep parallel in between them...

This child....Oh how I love that little Austin!  He is an animal.  He jumps on everyone, runs everywhere, and growls the funniest growl I have ever heard. 

We did a birthday dinner for Bev it was so fun to have the family together and we changed it up and ate outside.  The simple things a little decor does to a dinner.  LOVE IT!

A friend of mine got married and the kids loved walking around the gardens.  I almost died when Marin reached back to grab Paxton's hand and he reached for hers. This little boy doesn't hold hands, doesn't sit still, doesn't like to cuddle, you get the picture he is EVERYWHERE! He always loves to be wih Marin so this little moment is so sweet to me.

As it turns out to get him to sit still....you get a bucket out and he is in it for the long haul. 

We went boating with Paul and Rachel it was fun however it was NOT boating weather! The water was so choppy and it started raining on us.  The day was cut short but that was probably good the water was making us all feel a little sea sick.

Mark wake boarding notice the big dark clouds?

Rachel, Paul's brother Adam, and Mark on the tube, they were getting some good air with the weather and the speed of the boat, it was fun for almost all 3 of them.

Kids were sea sick...Paxton couldn't sit up straight, he was the happiest one to get off the boat.  I'm still feeling a little "sideways" All in all we have had a good summer so far and the highlight is going to be getting into our house!